The Searchers
I've never been much of a John Wayne fan and have consistently seen this movie heralded as one of the best movies ever made, certainly one of the best Western movies, so it may have been unfair to it in the sense that the bar was so freaking high going in. I think, visually, the movie was very good, specifically within the Western genre of the time, so I absolutely do give it that. Apparently David Lean watched this one a lot when he was preparing to make Lawrence of Arabia (which is possibly my favorite film of all-time) when trying to figure out how he was going to shoot a landscape. Evaluated like that it's pretty good as a technical and ambient piece because it does a pretty good job with the landscapes (shocking) and creating a setting that is pretty genuinely immersive.
My problem was probably just with the story. It seemed pretty long, even though it takes place over 5 years, and does an unconvincing job communicating the magnitude of what would have gone on for the two central characters during a pursuit spanning half a decade. I also feel that it is kind of inevitable that two guys spending a lot of time together over that duration of time would develop a relationship more intimate/friendly than we see in the actual film. Perhaps that was deliberate to really hammer home just how vindictive Wayne's character is and perhaps it makes him more useful as a symbolic entity than a personal one. I'll have to see the movie again in a bit to see how I feel about this, I'm known to really open up to things on subsequent viewings.
Finally, I love the Odyssey-like elements within the romantic sub-plot and overall plot as well. Again, I'll have to rethink this level to the film on another viewing.