Wes (Jack Nicholson),Vern (Cameron Mitchell),and Otis are three cowboys traveling to a job. They find shelter with a rough group of men led by Blind Dick (Harry Dean Stanton) who turns out to be murderous bandits. As a posse descend upon them, Wes and Vern manages to escape but they are assumed to be part of the bandit gang. Evan (George Mitchell) runs a small isolated farm with his wife and daughter Abigail (Millie Perkins).

This is a small indie western with a few interesting actors. There are no heroes in particular. The posse isn't evil. They are simply mistaken and yet it is a terrible mistake. It is the fleeting sense of right and wrong that is the most interesting here. Wes and Vern do end taking hostages. The movie is a bit short. It finishes without a traditionally satisfying ending. Traditional western fans may not like this.

"Ride in the Whirlwind" is an interesting western for several reasons. It was written by Jack Nicholson. You just don't expect to see him in westerns but especially writing them! Additionally, the story is told in a most unusual fashion--with none of the usual cliches nor structure of a western...and it's just a very economically written film with minimal dialog and a rather simple premise.

When the story begins, Wes, Vern and Otis come upon a man who has been hung. Soon after, they come upon a small cabin where three men are inside. The men inside invite the trio to come inside and eat. And, soon after eating, a posse comes upon the cabin and begin shooting. Little did Wes, Vern and Otis know that these new 'friends' were wanted killers. Soon, Vern is shot...as are the three crooks. Wes (Jack Nicholson) and Otis (Cameron Mitchell) manage to escape...but without horses nor provisions, they know it's only a matter of time until they, too, are caught and hung...as this posse doesn't seem the type to stop and talk! What's next? See the film.

As I said above, the film is done economically. I don't mean that it has a low budget...but it was made simply, without a lot of dialog and none of the usual cliches. Because of this, it's better than the average western...and a bit like the classic "The Ox-Bow Incident". Well worth your time and the Utah/Arizona setting is quite striking.

The reviews by other IMDb members here are almost uniformly favorable to this Jack Nicholson scripted Western, even the viewers who rated it below average seemed generally approving of it with only one outright negative commentary as I write this. I didn't think this was a bad Western by any means, but for me, this was just a sloooowwww moving story that didn't manage to get me invested in the characters very much.

I guess the unique element here had to do with the trio of characters, Wes (Nicholson),Vern (Cameron Mitchell) and Otis (Tom Filer) mistakenly pursued as outlaws who had the misfortune to meet up with a gang that had recently robbed a stagecoach and killed a couple men during the heist. To be sure, this was a staple feature of many old time B Westerns, but it was usually only one man involved who was on the run. Speaking of which, I'd never seen an outlaw bunch use a log across the trail to hold up a stage before, so that was another interesting bit.

What was missing here was the tension, I just didn't feel it to any great degree. The posse pursuing Wes and Vern after Otis was shot didn't seem all that worked up about getting their men in any hurry, while the interlude at the cabin with the old couple and their daughter didn't create a feeling of terror or danger for them in any way. One would think that when Wes had Abigail (Millie Perkins) accompany him for a walk to the barn it would give rise to a heated confrontation of some sort but that opportunity was missed as well.

Maybe I'm missing some nuance here, a couple of the reviews I've read were pretty thoughtful in their praise of the picture and gave me pause to consider my own initial opinion. But I have to call it as I see it, and ultimately, the picture just didn't deliver the goods for me.