a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Since the consensus on IMDB seems to be that this James Garner vehicle is really outstanding, I'm only adding this short critique to warn hard-boiled and picky viewers that they might be a little disappointed if they're expecting something extraordinary.Sure, James Garner is as charismatic as ever - though in this picture he perhaps overplays his trademark easygoing persona. The supporting actors are all fine as well, and the film moves along quickly and pleasantly. It's a good movie, sure enough.But the script is more 'amusing' than funny, and is by no means as original as it is sometimes made out to be. Might seem that way to folks who aren't western addicts, but if you've seen Destry Rides Again or The Boy From Oklahoma or Cat Ballou or even the Audie Murphy version of Destry, you'll have seen much better satires of the western genre.And if it's pure laughs in a western you're looking for, The Paleface, Son of Paleface and Alias Jesse James are probably at the top of the heap. Still, if you're in the mood for something light, colorful and enjoyable, Support Your Local Sheriff will do nicely. And for Garner fans, it will be a delight.

The town of Calendar, Colorado becomes a gold boom town overnight when the town folks discover gold in a fresh grave during a funeral. It's the lawless wild west. The town is held hostage to the Danbys since they have to transport the gold through their territories. The town council including Olly Perkins (Harry Morgan) is desperate to find a new sheriff. Jason McCullough (James Garner) is new in town and gets into a argument with Joe Danby (Bruce Dern). Jason decides to take the job of sheriff which comes with room and board at the Perkins. His first job is to arrest Joe Danby and he recruits Jake (Jack Elam) as his deputy. Olly's daughter Prudy Perkins (Joan Hackett) is a hothead, accident-prone klutz.It's a fun slapstick western. James Garner is quite a sly leading man. He makes this work. Basically he's the only one in on the jokes. He's great at that character. The jail cell idea is hilarious. Jack Elam has the best look ever. For me, he will always be the crazy doctor in 'The Cannonball Run'. The weak point is probably Joan Hackett. She's fine in comedic acting but the chemistry isn't really there.

There are only a handful of comic Westerns and this one shines bright among them. James Garner plays a low-key fellow passing through a lawless town on his way to Australia, only to end up becoming its sheriff. He gets rid of the riffraff using his wit as much as his quick-draw. Town doofus Jack Elam becomes his deputy, and Joan Hackett is his tomboy-ish love interest. Harry Morgan plays Hackett's father and the town's mayor. Things get stirred up pretty fast after Garner arrests nasty cowpoke Bruce Dern for killing someone. Papa Walter Brennan and his other sons ride into town to spring Dern and get rid of the new sheriff. This proves easier said than done. Garner keeps things light and breezy in this mostly bloodless western, and Elam, Morgan and Hackett lend him able support throughout. Followed by an inferior effort called "Support Your Local Gunfighter."

Support Your Local Sheriff! is directed by Burt Kennedy and written by William Bowers. It stars James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Jack Elam, Harry Morgan and Bruce Dern. Harry Stradling Jr. is the cinematographer and Jeff Alexander scores the music. The film is essentially a parody of a Western splinter that encompasses an iconoclastic new arrival in a troubled town who sets about taming it. Here it's James Garner as Jason McCullough who is on his way to Australia to make his fortune. Stopping over in an Old Western town for some rest, a bite to eat, and maybe earn some cash? McCullough is disgusted to find corruption and murder is rife. Showing a firm backbone and some nifty skills with a gun, McCullough highly impresses the town dignitaries who offer him the position of Sheriff. A job he finally accepts and begins taming the town with his unconventional methods.Support Your Local Sheriff! Very much had time on its side when it was released. Interest in the Western as a genre had waned considerably, with the advent of free television potentially ready to drive the final nails into the coffin. Four years earlier Cat Ballou had shown that a comedy Western in the 60s could be well received. While master craftsman Howard Hawks had parodied his own Rio Bravo a year after Cat Ballou with the well regarded El Dorado. Throw into the pot that James Garner had good comedic Western credentials behind him on account of his run in TV series Maverick (1957-1962); and it's evident that Messrs Kennedy & Bowers knew exactly what they were doing.Roger Ebert famously accused the makers of the film of being thieves, not buying into the parody basis, he hated the film and thought it just stole from other Western movies whilst being made in a TV show style. Well that's kind of the core of a parody movie is it not? Bowers & Kennedy have crafted a top dollar irreverent Oater, embracing the clichés of many standard genre pics that had gone before it-and then turning them upside down. While all the time, with this cast of very knowing genre participants, cloaking the picture with love and affection. It's not so much biting the hand that feeds you, but more a tasteful appreciation of what was sometimes fed.Full of truly memorable scenes such as a jail without bars, the film is immeasurably helped by the on fire cast. Garner deadpans it a treat and is charismatic into the bargain. As he goes about taming the town more by logic and suggestion than rapid gunfire, he's a hero that's very easy to warm too. Hackett, who owes the Western fan nothing after Will Penny, is simply adorable as a bumbling rich girl quickly getting the hots for the new Sheriff. Morgan & Dern play it firmly with a glint in the eye and tongue in cheek, and Brennan, a god-like bastion of Western's, is hilarious as the patriarch of the bullying Danby clan. But best of the bunch is Jack Elam (The Far Country/ Vera Cruz/ Gunfight at the OK Corral), who playing the town character somehow finds himself (in spite of himself) employed as the Sheriff's deputy, turns in a lesson in visual and physical comedy. Fittingly it's Elam who closes the film out with a suitably knowing piece of smart.It lacks some great scenic photography and the score is a bit too much Keystone Coppery, but really this is about the excellent script and the players bringing it to life. A Western comedy gem. 9/10