Two Thousand Dollars for Coyote (1966) (orig. Dos mil dólares por Coyote) - Director: León Klimovsky - 3/10.
Klimovsky’s oater essentially narrates a tale of middle-aged bounty hunter’s tussles with a young outlaw, for whose sister he has an affinity. The story does not work much because it is infused with the usual sentimentalism of Klimovsky’s more hackneyed ventures, but what is worse, the hare-brained stodginess is particularly amplified here by film’s hammy acting and Klimovsky’s throwaway directing. Even if none of Klimovsky’s westerns were especially rich in resources, production values are remarkably poor here, what with it having been filmed in a seemingly contemporary Spanish town instead of an allocated western set piece for one.
Pic’s decoupage and camerawork both turn out oppressively crude and clearly attest to production’s problematic funding and development. Notwithstanding plot’s schmaltz and tawdry rendition, the storyline unfolds in a more or less linear fashion, progresses at a fairly steady pace and features some character development along the way (even if it is one of the decidedly corny kind), so the movie stays watchable for the most part in spite of its numerous defects. At the same time, there is no disguising the fact that the narrative comes out thoroughly doltish and ponderous, so don’t get your hopes up, this is one measly affair which suffers from visual amateurism as evidenced by the sporadically broken 180-degree rule, pedestrian writing, subpar score and unsightly production design across the board.