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ZachariahThe producers of Zachariah claim it is the first and only "electric Western". And with its stange blend of acid rock and wild west gunslinging antics, there is certainly a singular, anachronistic feel to this movie. But any heads expecting a heady mix of Zabriskie Point and Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid will be disappointed by this uneven hippie-flick.
Zachariah (Rubinstein) and Matthew (a very young Johnson) star as a couple of wannabe gunslingers who pepper the desert with bullets, and despatch a troublesome stranger in a barroom duel before heading off to challenge the über-gunslinger Kane (Jones) at a fantastically gothic desert saloon. Before long the two part company. Zachariah renounces the way of the gun and retreats to the hovel of an aged Wild West zen mystic, while Matthew reaches the apotheosis of gunmanship by killing Kane, before turning on Zachariah to find out, finally, who really is the fastest gun in the West.
This is in some ways a charming film. The West is reinvented as an allegory of contemporary hippie America - and 'squares' had better watch out for Matthew and Zachariah's bullets. Unfortunately the acting is all too unconvincing; and cast and director seem lost in the vast desert vistas. The film has endearing hit-and-miss trippy humour, but ultimately adds up to little more than an off esisode of 'The Monkees'. Mind you, it's still way more authentic than Almost Famous.
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