High, Wide and Handsome is way too much, but I kind of liked it

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like they were made by throwing every possible idea into a blender, maybe. If you want a tight, focused story, you’re going to hate this thing. It’s long, it’s loud, and it’s surprisingly sentimental for a movie about oil pipelines.

Irene Dunne is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She’s the only reason the emotional stakes feel like anything more than cardboard. Randolph Scott looks like he’s having a good time, I guess? Though he spends most of the runtime just looking vaguely concerned at horizons.

The scale is a bit of a problem

Everything about this production feels HUGE. It’s almost like they were trying to prove something with the budget. You get these massive crowd scenes where half the extras seem to be just standing around looking at their boots. It’s weirdly distracting.

The musical numbers just sort of... happen. They don’t always move the story forward. Sometimes they just stop the whole movie in its tracks so someone can sing about dirt or pipes or whatever. It reminded me a bit of the pacing issues in The War Horse, where the momentum just dies for no reason.

Odd little moments

• There’s a scene involving an elephant. I’m still not entirely sure why.
• The oil drilling sequences are weirdly detailed for a musical. You watch them dig for five minutes and then suddenly everyone is dancing.
• The villain, Alan Hale, is so cartoonishly evil I kept waiting for him to twirl a mustache that wasn't there.

You can tell the studio wanted this to be the next big thing. It’s got that glossy, expensive sheen that covers up the fact that the script is a bit of a mess. It’s not as polished as Beau Geste, but it has a messy energy that I didn't entirely hate.

It’s definitely a film from another era. You can feel the studio executives pushing for more spectacle in every single frame. Sometimes it works! Other times it just feels like you’re watching someone set piles of money on fire in the middle of a Pennsylvania field.

Honestly, just watch it for Dunne. She’s the only one who seems to know what movie she’s actually in. The rest of the cast is just along for the ride. 🚂