SummaryIn the old west, a man becomes a Sheriff just for the pay, figuring he can decamp if things get tough. In the end, he uses ingenuity instead.
Directed By:Burt Kennedy
Written By:William Bowers
Support Your Local Sheriff!
Metascore
Mixed or Average
56
User score
Generally Favorable
8.0
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
44% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Easygoing James Garner, befuddled Jack Elam, feisty Joan Hackett and townsfolk resist land baron Walter Brennan in a reprise of his "Clementine" role. [09 Mar 2001]
80
One by one, all the Western clichés are turned upside down and reinvented, with William Bowers' fine script proliferating enough invention and wonderful gags to make one forgive the occasional sag.
70
Lawman James Garner with only drunken Jack Elam by his side takes on town heavies Walter Brennan, Bruce Dern and their gunmen: it has a Hawksian, sub-Rio Bravo ring, but this is an affectionate and funny parody of such westerns. [25 Mar 2006, p.53]
60
Support Your Local Sheriff uses as the basis for its comedy the many cliches that have become part and parcel of the Western genre.
60
Amiable comedy western, with James Garner expanding on his Maverick image as a boom-town sheriff who’d rather use his cunning than his guns.
50
Support Your Local Sheriff is a textbook example of the evil influence TV has on the movies. It's essentially a lousy TV situation comedy dragged out to feature length for no good reason.
40
Unfortunately, Support Your Local Sheriff is basically serial material that in straining to be something more ends up being something less. [08 May 1969, p.47]
User score
Generally Favorable
100% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Jun 27, 2025
10
This is a great movie. Funny. Well written. And it’s great acting. What more do you want.
Aug 10, 2025
7
Amusing Western comedy, Lots of high energy, colorful characters, and loads of slapstick, Movie has fun skewering lots of Western movie conventions, Holding it all together is James Garner, in one of his most appealing roles, With his easy going charm matched with his lethal quick draw marksmanship, But oddly, his expert aim seems to be lost in the climactic gunfight.
