Blue_Jay_Way Peter Fonda's career in westerns was about tearing down everything that his father, Henry Fonda, ever stood for. Where Henry Fonda was a top gun in most westerns, Peter Fonda is more like a sad and thoughtful loser. Where Henry Fonda always had women lusting after him in the westerns, Peter Fonda's movie wife, Verna Bloom, does not want much to do with him. While traditional western women are faithful to their men, Bloom is open about screwing all of the men she hires to help at the ranch, because her husband was away, and she needed sex. This movie throws a lot of darts at the westerns that Henry Fonda made. In many ways, it is an anti-western, and anti-Henry Fonda. As a movie, while the photography is beautiful, the actual story is very lame and boring. Peter Fonda loves to have close-ups of his face. It is like he is in love with himself. There is not much story here. One day Peter Fonda decides to go home to see what happened to his wife after seven years of abandonment. Warren Oates, his best friend, tags along. That is the whole movie. The end of the movie was badly choreographed and features a sub-par shootout that once again contrasts the difference between the great Henry Fonda, and his pathetic stoner son, Peter Fonda. It literally ends with a thud, and everything positive that was building up gets let down. It is truly the anti-Christ of a Henry Fonda Western movie.

LilsZoo2015 Slow, moody, harsh, honest, beautiful, brilliant. I wanted to stop at these words, but the guidelines insist on being a bit more verbose which I personally feel will take away from the original drama meant by my first lines. But to satisfy the "rules" I go on. I think our man Pete here did a bang up job directing this period piece of a time in American history when we lived close to the land and even closer to people we bond to, (wives vs. best buds). Enuf said!

redwhiteandblue1776 This review won't explain the movie's plot, there are enough of those already. I really do like Westerns, but it's usually easy to criticize them for being so unrealistic. But, The Hired Hand was REALLY well done and probably shows life in the 1800's far better than most movies. The costumes, saddles, firearms, buildings and even the men's scruffy beards were period correct. The movie moves slow, as was life during that time period. Violence was shown as the exception, not an everyday occurrence so don't expect the classic big shoot em up at the end. The acting…quite, deliberate, wonderful. (Just as a side note, I was amazed by how much Peter Fonda resembled Clint Eastwood in appearance and voice.) If you appreciate movies that depict real life situations you will enjoy this one. You should also watch a great film called, Meek's Cutoff. Like this movie, be prepared to sit back, relax and become engrossed in the time period. A time when life was hard and just to survive, everyday people had to make hard choices.

FightingWesterner This downbeat, salt-of-the-earth western drama is a meditation on forgiveness and the meaning of friendship, as well as a great showcase for Fonda (who makes his directorial debut), Warren Oates, Verna Bloom, and Vilmos Zsigmond, whose impressive cinematography is almost the fourth star of the movie.Fonda's character is an interesting one. His inability to express himself forces the viewer to learn about his character almost solely through his reactions to the people around him.One complaint though, is that I wish that the character's relationship with his daughter was fleshed out a bit more. As it stand, their interaction was a little superficial. There should have been a scene where he really tries to talk to her.Warren Oates was an excellent actor and always a joy to watch, especially in a western picture. For another western in the same art-house vein, I'd also recommend 1967's The Shooting, where Oates stars alongside Fonda's old pal Jack Nicholson.