The Lusty Men

The Lusty Men is an atmospheric character study that collapses under the weight of its own moralizing.

The cast is uniformly excellent. Robert Mitchum seems tailor made for the part of an aging and somewhat lecherous rodeo star, Arthur Kennedy, who could pass for Kiefer Sutherland’s grandfather, is believable as a ranch hand who finds the lure of fast money irresistible, and Susan Hayward overcomes her distinctly Northeastern accent to carry off her role as Kennedy’s wife, a tough Texas waitress turned homemaker.

Director Nicholas Ray stages some memorable shots, such as a battered Mitchum exiting the empty rodeo arena through the livestock entrance, but he seems too enamored with the rodeo itself. Granted, a few scenes establishing atmosphere are welcome, but Ray’s constantly showing bucking broncos, bulls, and calf wrangling. While it’s clear he’s trying to build atmosphere and demonstrate how dangerous the competition is, after a while, the shots just become redundant and tiresome.

Which leads into the films second problem: at 113 minutes, it’s far too long. Chopping out much of the excess rodeo footage would clear 5 to 10 minutes from the running time and make for a much leaner film.

But ultimately, it’s neither the length, nor the overabundance of rodeo shots that breaks The Lusty Men, but rather the ending. Ray does such a good job building atmosphere that this feels like a real, slice-of-life film and so the pat, moralizing ending doesn’t gel. Instead of wrapping everything up to drive home their point, the filmmakers should have opted for a much more subtle, and believable, finale.