The Shootist (1976)
John Wayne basically plays a version of his western persona in this. It even starts with clips from other of his movies to set up his legacy. The meta aspect is complete knowing that Wayne actually died of cancer a few years after this movie and it does feel like it is made as a farewell to both John Wayne and the type of movie western character that has faded out of fashion in the 70s.
It is unusual for a western to deal with death in this way. It is usually hordes of young men being killed in gun fights, not older men slowly dying of cancer. That aspect alone makes this worth watching and I think it deals with is subject manner quite well, with classic themes on changing times and new generations making the same mistakes - or learn from the previous generation mistakes. It is easy to read this movie in the view of John Wayne seeing that the type of man he was is in the past, and the future is different - and that is okay.
That said, if it wasn’t for the meta elements of this being John Wayne’s final movie, it is a rather tame movie, as it doesn’t really dive deep into the emotional complexities of its subject matter.
Rating: 3.5