Chisum

Chisum is currently streaming in the US on Fawesome, and it rewards the patience it asks of you. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. With 206 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Watch it for John Wayne — one of the stronger performances out there right now. Start it on Fawesome whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Chisum earns its spot. Chisum takes its time building the world its characters inhabit, and the patience pays off. Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County Land War in the New Mexico Territory of 1878. The performances from John Wayne and Forrest Tucker give it more weight than the premise alone would suggest. It hit screens in 1970. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping everything up in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Chisum. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. John Wayne is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.