Day 54- Movie 49. Donovan's Reef (1963)

It felt weird to watch a John Wayne movie where he didn't fire a gun, ride horses, or partake in too much action at all (besides the occasional bar room brawl). This is one of the more quirky films in Wayne's catalog- a romantic comedy. Wayne still plays his typically gruff, hard-nosed man with a heart of gold, but this role is also a departure from the majority of his characters. For that reason, this film was refreshing to watch.

 
The movie itself is decent, but never really great. The movie is about a woman who travels to the South Seas to meet her father for the first time, and to determine whether he has any moral flaws that would prevent him from receiving his willed shares of a massive shipping company. There, she meets Wayne and the other zany characters inhabiting the island. The story itself become secondary and mostly forgotten as we watch these characters move around aimlessly, jumping from scene to scene with very little momentum or direction.

In some ways, this movie comes across as a screwball comedy. It certainly marked a major departure for both John Wayne and director John Ford, as there is very, very little action. The action scenes we do get are infused with comedy, and very really amount to much- there's no suspense, no real point to any of the action (which mostly consists of people punching each other, then randomly stopping and drinking together). It's strange how much this film stands out from the majority of the films these two men made. In one regard, it is refreshing to see a major change of pace. On the other hand, it feels out of place and unexpected.

Donovan's Reef is certainly a decent movie, but it never really gains any momentum. The story ambles along like it's on vacation in the South Seas, with no real direction or motivation. That doesn't make for a great movie. I would give this film a 6.5/10.

On the topic of this 100 movies in 100 days, I am in the middle of that 13 day stretch where I worried I wouldn't watch a single movie. I did manage to get this one in, but I'm already 5 behind again, and there's a real possibility I'll lose 6 more days before watching another movie. I'm going to try to sneak one or two in over the next week, but I may be in a hole too insurmountable to overcome. We'll see how it goes, but this hole is getting bigger every day.