In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Any film directed by John Huston is worth watching, and this is no exception. It's ambitious in scope and execution as it tells the story of a bizarre, eccentric character (the historical Judge Roy Bean), who, in Huston's film becomes the personification of the short-lived myth of the American West in all its violent, exaggerated, archetypal, twisted glory.A slew of good actors, not the least of them Paul Newman as Bean, makes the film as fascinating to watch as it is frustrating to pin down in its messiness and somewhat confused tone. That said, it's definitely worth watching.Just go with it and enjoy the beautiful cinematography; haunting soundtrack (except for the trite and misplaced Andy Williams tune that pops up in the middle); and, especially, the great cameos by any number of familiar names. Particularly good are Anthony Perkins, Tab Hunter, and in a final coda, a dreamlike sequence in which Ava Gardner rises to the challenge of matching the Lily Langtry whose presence as Bean's unobtainable object permeates the film. In more substantive roles, Ned Beatty and Victoria Principal are excellent as supports to Newman's character.

In "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean", the Judge (Paul Newman) hangs dozens of men and develops quite a reputation for his strange and violent form of justice. In reality, Bean WAS famous for his odd sentences and occasional disregard for the law, but only one man was ever actually hung by the judge! In many, many other ways, the film takes HUGE liberties with history--and the story of Bean is only a shadow of the real man. So if you are looking for a history lesson, look for some other film! Aside from the bad history, this film struck me as the product of a schizophrenic writer! Parts of the movie were quite funny--followed by LONG deadly serious parts. And, near the very end of the film it became a completely different film altogether--a terrible action pic. If not schizophrenic, it sure looked as if three different writers were given three portions of the film and never consulted with each other!! It's a real shame, as the first half (or so) of the film is quite good--fun, silly and engaging. The last half is maudlin, slow and, in parts, simply awful. The worst is when, completely out of the blue, Bean (who'd simply disappeared for much of the film--and the period was to have been 20 years) just suddenly shows up and behaves like Rambo!! Where did THIS come from and whose idea was this?! As a result, all the good of the first portion of the film is simply flushed away--and completely wasted. All in all, a thoroughly frustrating and wildly uneven film.A few notes about the film. Some of the comments early in the film about minorities (in the scene with Tab Hunter) are bound to offend--hold on to your seat! The film's director, John Huston, makes a small cameo as 'Grizzly' Adams--and it's a VERY odd cameo indeed. It's the first film of Victoria Principle--and she's oddly made up to look like a Mexican! Jacqueline Bisset is pretty much wasted in the film. Stacy Keach is almost unrecognizable as 'Bad Bob'--a funny portion of the film that, unfortunately, was too short and not enough.Also, after writing my review, I looked at the rest of the reviews. I was surprised how many of the folks gave this one a 10 considering how wildly uneven it was. Perhaps these votes were more votes for Newman--after all, he was an incredibly gifted actor--but the material in this film just didn't do him justice.

By the time the movie ended I was perplexed: how could John Huston, of all people, have possibly made such a good movie? (The infamously overrated creator of cheesy turkeys such as "Treasure of Sierra Madre", "The Maltese Falcon", "Across The Pacific", "High Sierra", and "The Bible".) I then took a closer look at the film's credits... Well, well... John Milius: that certainly explains a few things. A maverick of sorts, Milius is one of a mere handful of Tinseltown's filmmakers that aren't Marxist/left-wing/liberal. The reason this bizarre western fairy-tale spoof is so good is largely thanks to his excellent script.Milius's involvement thoroughly explains the movie's decidedly un-Hollywood-like pro-death-penalty stance, and the laconic and humorous way in which the execution of criminals is portrayed. It also explains the wonderful line by the narrating Ned Beatty: "... and then the women got the vote and everything went to Hell...". How true... A remark that more-or-less goes hand-in-hand with an earlier comment - the wisest in the film: "There is nothing worse than a reformed harlot". This statement, which has far more to it than meets the eye, pretty much sums up 90% of all tarts-turned-Hollywood-stars (or pop stars) who very self-righteously turn to excessive "charity work" and mindless political activism once they hit their 30s or 40s... Madonna, Susan Sarandon, anyone?... (Okay, so Angelina Jolie started in her 20s.) None of that hooker-with-the-heart-of-gold nonsense this time around. And yet, TLATOJRB isn't really a chauvinistic movie. Both Bean's mistress and his daughter are portrayed as women of high principles; as strong, positive and likable characters. Speaking of which, I barely recognized Victoria Principal; who would have thought she was so pretty back in the day... The bear provides some of the movie's highlights, as does Newman, who is terrific in the title role. My favourite line from him: "I p*ss on them!" (His reaction to his dim-witted, spineless marshalls expecting an apology from Bean to their ex-harlots/wives.)Movies such as TLATOJRB are a thing of the past. Today such blatant political incorrectness is barely tolerated in a seedy stand-up club, let alone a major Hollywood movie...

When I cannot decide whether this film is better than The Westerner with Walter Brennan and Gary Cooper, than I know that this is a great movie because The Westerner was one of the greatest westerns ever. Paul Newman gives a powerful performance as the legendary Judge Roy Bean. Mr. Newman is truly the star of the movie and he carries the movie well. His presence is enough to take a good movie and make it great. This movie is an example of how the actor makes the difference between a movie being likable but forgettable and wonderful and memorable. Mr. Newman captures the essence of the Bean character, the judge's eccentricities, his homespun philosophy on life and his essential humanity. True, Judge Bean was known as the hanging judge and he was a law unto himself, but he knew who he was dealing with and that there was nobody to back him up. He was THE LAW and had to command respect. Portraying an historical figure is tricky, but Paul Newman does it well and for that reason alone the movie is worth watching.