mmartinez-04028

One must wonder what some reviewers are talking about when they pan this film. Eastwood was accused by at least two of bad attempts to mimic his father's mannerisms. Perhaps he picked up some of his father's behaviors, as sons sometimes do and perhaps as he is an individual those mannerisms have his own touch in them. So perhaps, instead of accusing him of trying to look and act like his father, but failing, we could understand that he is not his father though he looks and acts somewhat like him. One reviewer took the movie to task for the fact that "they couldn't hit him from 30 feet. I wonder if that person ever fired a pistol at a person they know to be a deadly killer who had the wherewithal to return fire. I myself have not. I'm fairly deadly to a paper target from 30 feet. At 50 feet, with something to rest the gun on and plenty of time to aim, I'm not a bad shot. I can't help thinking as decent a shot as I am, I cannot say with any confidence that I could shoot and kill a killer gunman who was shooting back. That scene at the farm yard, The shooters were I'd guess, at least fifty feet from Jackson(Eastwood), a long shot for a pistol with a target that does not pose a mortal peril to you. That reviewer should read up on his wild west history. The shootout at the OK corral? Lawmen & outlaws were around 20 feet of each other and I forget how many bullets were recovered for the Earp's murder trial(they were acquitted) but it was a lot and those men were all very proficient with handguns. The most unrealistic part of the movie as I see it is the peyote trip. I have eaten peyote and the portrayal of the hallucination Jackson had was ridiculous. It looked as thought he was just darting his eyes round and round and up and down very rapidly amidst the trees. In fact the only things accurate in that whole scene is that some Native American peoples do use it for ceremonies, and you usually throw up a while after you eat the buttons, right about the time the trip is getting started. Peyote trips last for hours. Very shortly after Jackson runs from the sweat lodge to hurl, they decide he is evil and so must go immediately, yet as the boy leads the horse to his stashed gear he is no longer tripping. I love that they portray what must be PTSD. I thought to myself, I don't remember Another film dealing with it from the civil war. It's reasonable to presume it afflicted soldiers then as now, they maybe called it something else or didn't call it anything. In WWII and The Korean war they called it shell shocked. The reviewers who ripped on this movie with invective and hyperbole should calm down before they give themselves a nose bleed. Diablo might benefit from a little better direction, But the acting was excellent. What can one say about the inimitable Walton Goggins? Bravisimo! It was a good story, creative and somewhat original screenplay. It has beautiful scenery. Not sure where one reviewer got the idea that it was supposed to be California. Jackson said they took the trail down to New Mexico. No trail in Cali goes down to NM. Sure, the scenery Doesn't look like country I've seen in Colorado, which I have traveled in a bit, nor indeed NM, which I have lived in for the vast majority of my life. It's called suspension of disbelief, people and if you find that short leap too difficult, if that is something that "Ruined" or "rendered in-watchable,' this movie I'm afraid you have many more disappointments in store if you continue to view movies. One reviewer said it isn't a western, but a horror story. He and I obviously have divergent definitions of Horror story. As I say in my summary, Diablo is a psychological thriller in western clothing. Don't let the naysayers throw you off. Give it a watch. You'll be surprised (unless You read a spoiler).