Along with Cat Ballou and Blazing Saddles, Support Your Local Sheriff ranks way up high on many people's list of essential comic Westerns -- and with good reason. While it lacks the lunacy of the Mel Brooks classic and is perhaps a trifle less sure-handed than Cat Ballou, Sheriff is a delight on its own terms. A huge portion of the credit is due to James Garner's perfect performance. Jason McCullough is a part that fits the actor to a glove, allowing him to use his easygoing charm, laconic way with a quip and mixture of bemusement and disbelief at the situations in which he finds himself to superb effect. It's a good thing that Garner has such quite strength, for he needs it to keep an irrepressible Walter Brennan from stealing any scene he can sink his teeth into. There's also notable turns from a loveably clumsy Joan Hackett, a remarkably dense Bruce Dern and almost everyone in the cast. They're all helped by William Bowers' clever script, deft turns of phrase, ability to set up jokes in the most surefire manner and appealing characters, and by Burt Kennedy's beautifully smooth direction. Sheriff is simply a lot of fun and should be enjoyed even by those who are not Western fans.