As someone who grew up watching those 100 Years... 100 ____ countdowns over the years, I can confidently tell you that Shane is one of the American Film Institute's all-time favourites. It's on both movie lists, the western list, the hero list, the cheers list, and the quotes list (where the line is literally just "Shane! Shane! Come back!"). Despite their consistent attempts at selling me on its greatness, though, I'd never felt especially compelled to watch it before now. And I think that's because, in basically every other context, all you ever hear is that it's boring, sappy, and overrated.
Well, I've now finally seen the movie for myself, and while I can definitely understand where those detractors are coming from (this thing is undeniably slow and cloying, and Alan Ladd isn't exactly the coolest hero ever), I'm siding with the AFI on this one. I tend to love a "small community rises up against the evil corporation" premise, and it makes for a great good vs. evil narrative here. As conflicts go, it's certainly on the simplistic side, but I think most of us prefer when older westerns are black and white like that.
The movie's also got a strong cast, some beautiful Technicolor landscapes, and a generally heartwarming feel to it. Definitely not overrated in my eyes - though I do agree that the kid could've stood to be less annoying.
Grade: A
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