Tockinit not horrible nor great

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

TheLittleSongbird The main reason for seeing 'The Ballad of Josie' in the first place for me was Doris Day, having been of late on a completest quest seeing all the films of hers not yet seen.Despite being one of her lowest rated films here (along with 'Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?' and 'Caprice'), being one of her less well critically received films and being disliked by Day herself, 'The Ballad of Josie' isn't that bad. At least from respectful personal opinion, though it does have a good deal wrong with it and it was made during a rather rocky period of Day's film career. Of course it is among the weaker end of her overall films but it is better than 'Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?', 'Lucky Me', 'Starlift', 'The West Point Story' (aka 'Fine and Dandy') and 'Tunnel of Love', all but one of which rated higher.As is the case with all her films, even her lesser ones, Day is the reason to see the film in the first place and also the best thing about it. She does a very good job, having a balance of charm and feistiness. 'The Ballad of Josie' is a good-looking film too, not exactly evocative but full of rustic attractive colours and handsomely designed production values shot beautifully.Regarding the music, it is pretty excellent. It is cleverly orchestrated and rousing. The title song is a lovely and memorable one, though, despite Don Costa singing it well, there was a missed opportunity regarding Day not singing it. Was mixed on the ing cast but felt that Elizabeth Fraser beguiled the screen whenever she appeared, Andy Devine clearly has fun and brought some much needed authenticity and John Fiedler is amusing.However, not all the ing cast come off well, suffering from characters that are not particularly interesting or used well. Peter Graves has a bland uninteresting role and plays it just as much, while George Kennedy's character is underwritten and underused (although it is a kind of role that Kennedy is perfect for and he does his best with what he's given). Having Andrew V. McLaglen on board as director promised a lot, being a veteran of the western genre. The simplicity of the direction is to be ired, but too much of the time it was a case of getting the job done but it comes over as workmanlike.Sadly the story is often very dull, narratively it is as thin as a thin piece of tissue and in the more less than eventful parts the pace is sluggish. The script is tonally somewhat muddled, with some frequent and too often tiresome attempts at humour that never seems to fit and the more western-oriented parts lack grit. Despite looking good, 'The Ballad of Josie' never looks evocative with a lot of it looking too clean, too nice and too newly fresh.Overall, a long way from a disaster but Day did much better in her career and deserved better as well. 5/10 Bethany Cox

kfo9494 The problem with this film is that it tried so hard to be funny with some really stupid slap-stick routines that just seemed out-of-place for such a fine cast. Doris Day was not really that bad playing the lead in her charming ways. And even Peter Graves did better than expected as he was cast next to the beautiful Ms Day. The movie was more about comedy than a western -making this somewhat better had it be placed in more modern times than dirty and dusty west. Even from the beginning with the modern song that introduced the title characters, the viewer had a feeling that this was not going to be pretty. This movie tried to be a western but with its fancy talk and high priced wardrobes it just had a feel of being unbelievable. Which leads us to the biggest problem with this film- not believable.The plot, the writing, the situations, the comedy, the drama and the look of this movie all seem to be wrong. And all these factor usually make for a disaster of a show. But the fine actors is what saves this movie from being an all-out wreck. This is not a movie that I would want to watch again but would recommend watching just to see the many fine actors. Just did not have the combination or interest for a good film.

dwpollar 1st watched 6/18/2007 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Andrew V. McLaglen): Severely confusing women's lib "kind of" movie with Doris Day playing Josie who loses her abusive husband and then decides to do things her own way without a man and raise sheep in cow country so that she can raise her son on her own. The setting appears to be the late 1800's before Wyoming was a state in the union. The problem is the film-makers aren't sure how far they want this all to go. Maybe it wasn't the right time for a feminist movie(the late 60's) -- maybe we had to wait until the Norma Rae's etc.. later on. Day is OK in the role, but the movie throws too many attempts at Lucy-like situation comedy routines despite the serious subject matter. Peter Graves plays a guy trying to get into Josie's life even though he doesn't care for the women's lib thing. He eventually gets behind her ( sort of) and he ends up saving the day from the evil George Kennedy character. This is kind of a "1/2 women's lib" movie, and "1/2 we still need our men" film and that's where the confusion lies. It also has a kind of Disney(let's feel good when it's all over) feel to it that wreaks. OK, I guess I didn't like this movie, but it wasn't all bad. Day's persona was the best part of the movie, but as far as the movie it was pretty meaningless and silly.

moonspinner55 One of Doris Day's lesser-known entries from late in her film career, one even she wishes she had ed on. Feisty female turns rancher in this feminist western, butting heads with the local-yokels in a distaff variation on "The Sheepman". Doris doesn't look her best here (blame it on that wig), although her conniption fits are as funny as ever. When Day gets her ire up, it's really something to behold. But the film is unbelievably anachronistic, especially since this was 1967. No wonder she later turned to TV; this plays like a failed TV pilot, with a ing cast to match! Directed by genre-mainstay Andrew V. McLaglen, who must have been looking at his watch. *1/2 from ****