Review of The Long Duel

Given the talent of the star players in this film, I was disappointed. Trevor Howard tries to work with what he's given, but Yul Brynner's performance was wooden and predictable. Despite what some of the other reviewers have said,I thought this film was not nearly as good as it COULD have been, and the biggest problem was the script. Boring, hackneyed, clichéd lines choked any life out of this story which, as noted, has a basis in real life. The battle scenes were poorly done, and I found myself fast-forwarding through them to get back to the dialog, as bad as it was. I can't fault the actors so much as the script and direction. Howard and Brynner deserved better. As an action movie, when compared to some of the other mid-1960s efforts, it falls far short.