Western Weekends: Lonesome Dove

Wow, I'm really diversifying this weekend. Yesterday I reviewed a TV show, and today I'll be adding book reviews to my repertoire, with Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry's western novel about an epic cattle drive from the Rio Grande to the plains of northern Montana.

The story revolves around the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium, a livestock trading firm based in the remote border town of Lonesome Dove, Texas. Former Texas Ranger Captains Augustus McRae and Woodrow Call are the joint owners of the firm, and are presented as an archetypal odd couple; Gus is affable, talkative, and compassionate, but is also lazy to the point of eccentric, while Call is a terse and stoic workaholic, but his obsession covers up his insecurities. Events are set into motion when Jake Spoon unexpectedly arrives in Lonesome Dove after being away for more than ten years. Jake served with Gus and Call in the Rangers, but is now a freeloading gambler and no-good drifter. Nonetheless, the tales of his travels inspire Call to set up a ranch in the Montana Territory. Gus is reluctant, but relents when he realises there is an opportunity to reconnect with his old flame, Clara Allen - who has a homestead in Nebraska.

The first part of the story takes place in and around Lonesome Dove, as Call assembles a crew and acquires a herd, and introduces the rest of the Hat Creek Outfit, including hired hands Pea Eye Parker, Joshua Deets, and Newt Dobbs, along with their cook, Bolivar.

As the journey north begins, several layered subplots are introduced:

• Jake is reluctant to travel with the Hat Creek outfit, and elopes with the town's prostitute, Lorena Wood, promising to take her to San Francisco. 
• On top of that, Jake is a fugitive after accidentally killing a dentist in Fort Smith, Arkansas. July Johnson, Fort Smith's sheriff and the dentist's brother, reluctantly travels west to follow his trail with his stepson Joe.
• After July leaves, his wife Elmira runs away to seek out her old flame, Dee Boot, falling in with a buffalo hunter called Big Zwey.
• Roscoe Brown, July's inept deputy, sets out after the sheriff to tell him that Elmira has run away and is also pregnant.

With all these subplots and characters, there's a lot to get through. I suppose it's justified as a cattle drive is a slow and arduous business, so you need the sub-plots to break it up.

I think that one of the biggest issues with the book is that there a couple of chapters that contain massive exposition dumps. Sometimes this is important, but it's very distracting when the chapter opens with action that is essentially paused for a couple of pages. This also involves a lot more telling than showing. However, when it does show, it shows really well. The story still manages to create a vivid setting when it isn't dumping exposition, and the journey has some truly rough moments involving hostile fauna, wild weather, and a ruthless desperado called Blue Duck.

The other issue is omniscient viewpoint. It's not easy to get sucked in when you're jumping into different characters' heads. However, this is once again do well enough that it isn't always an issue - especially at the times when the POV character is Newt. He's a teenager who was taken in by Gus and Call after the death of his mother, and it's strongly implied that Call is his father but he is reluctant to admit this. Newt is excited by what the thought of the drive and the sense of adventure this brings, but his idealism is worn away as the cowboys he works with and befriends are slowly killed off - creating some of the saddest stuff I've read in recent years.

Sorry, I seem to have rattled on for a bit. It is a massive read after all. I started it in January and have only just finished it. All in all, it's a slow start, but it's a vivid story with some very gritty and very heart-wrenching scenes. If you're willing to make the time, I do recommend it.

Western Weekends: Have Gun - Will Travel

I'm going to do something different this weekend, in that I'm reviewing a TV show rather than a film. The show in question is Have Gun - Will Travel, which ran on CBS from 1957 to 1963.

Richard Boone stars as Paladin, a West Point-educated former cavalry officer and San Francisco gentleman who makes his living as a "fixer" of sorts. He settles disputes and solves problems that could escalate into violence. While he is very skilled with a gun and with his fists, he's intended to be a guile hero rather than an action hero, and he always tries to do his job with minimal conflict.

This creates some interesting situations, often from people underestimating Paladin. When people see the business card that reads "Have Gun - Will Travel", they will often assume that he is a professional killer - an association which Paladin resents. This means they won't hire him until he proves himself otherwise or the situation gets worse. On the hand, it means they'll hire him to kill someone, which he will refuse to do.

The show is certainly a product of the time, and being a CBS series, there's a lot to get through. I've only just finished the first season, which is 39 episodes long. However, the tone can range from comedic to serious, which helps Richard Boone exhibit his talent.

I really enjoy spotting familiar faces when I watch it. For example, the second episode has Paladin meeting a sheriff's posse looking for a gunman, played by a young Charles Bronson. Paladin finds him, tries to convince him to give up, and then helps him evade the posse long enough for him to get home to see his newborn son.

Overall, the show is a good way to pass the time, while trying to have some variety within its own formula.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Gene Roddenberry wrote a lot of it.

Franchise Reviews - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The third and final film in Sergio Leone's trilogy plays like a cross between a Western and a war film - technically making it a prequel. And a prequel that's actually good.

Clint Eastwood plays the bounty hunter known only as 'Blondie', who carries out a lucrative get-rich-quick scheme with Tuco, a foul-mouthed bandit played by Eli Wallach. However, their partnership sours and the two are soon at each other's throats until they learn about a hidden treasure buried in a cemetery. Tuco knows the name of the cemetery while Blondie knows the name of the grave, but neither of them are willing to share their information. This forces them to look out for each other, especially when they come into conflict with Angel Eyes, a ruthless and sociopathic gunfighter played by Lee Van Cleef - who also wants the treasure.

It's a pretty long film at almost 3 hours, and I have to admit that I'm not particularly keen on the slow pace. Nonetheless, it's a great story with a great payoff, and the Civil War setting does add some truly poignant moments to the savage world being depicted. On top of that, the soundtrack features some of Ennio Morricone's best work - especially the piece titled The Ecstasy of Gold, played when Tuco is running through the cemetery. I've heard that Metallica use the same piece to open their gigs.

Well, that's about it. While The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a great film, I still think that For a Few Dollars More is my personal favourite of the trilogy.

Franchise Reviews - For a Few Dollars More

For a Few Dollars More is a film I'd compare to Aliens, From Russia with Love, or The Empire Strikes Back; a sequel that is far superior to its predecessor.

Clint Eastwood returns as The Man with No Name, but is now referred to as "Manco" (One Armed) due to his habit of doing everything with his left hand to leave his right hand free for shooting. However, the real hero of this story is rival bounty hunter Colonel Douglas Mortimer, played by Lee Van Cleef. The two hunters end up pooling their resources to go after the notorious bandit El Indio, played by Gian Maria Volonte.

While Clint Eastwood is still great, it's Lee Van Cleef and Volonte who steal the show. Colonel Mortimer is a great contrast to Manco, a smartly-dressed sharpshooter instead of a rugged quickshooter. Meanwhile, Volonte once again plays a ruthless villain, but one more ruthless than the last one. El Indio is a psychopathic, cannabis-smoking killer, but he is also a cunning manipulator who seeks to pull off a seemingly impossible heist at the Bank of El Paso. He also likes to toy with his enemies using a musical pocket-watch. He's not someone you'd want to meet on a dark night.

For a Few Dollars More is probably my favourite film in the series. All three leads are fantastic, the shootouts are tense, and the Morricone score ties everything together really well.

Franchise Reviews - A Fistful of Dollars

Since I don't have to be up in the morning, I figured that I'd start the reviews, beginning with A Fistful of Dollars - Sergio Leone's unofficial remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo.

Clint Eastwood makes his first appearance as the eponymous Man with No Name (sometimes referred to as Joe), who has found himself at the border town of San Miguel. Upon arrival, "Joe" finds himself in the middle of a conflict between to rival smuggler gangs: The Rojos and the Baxters. He soon decides to play off the two gangs against each other in order to profit from it. Unfortunately, his plan gets complicated when he sticks his neck out for the beautiful Marisol - the reluctant mistress of Ramon Rojo, the youngest but most intelligent and ruthless of the Rojo brothers, played by Gian Maria Volonte.

Eastwood is fantastic. He says very little, but when he does speak, he commands presence. When he isn't speaking, he's delivering hard stares and out-drawing his opponents. Volonte is also great as Ramon - but he really shines in the sequel.

Because the film was originally Italian, most of the actors are dubbed, and the dubbing isn't always done well - but that's fair enough. It was the 60s after all.

All in all, it's a good film, but probably the weakest of the trilogy. This is a series where the sequels do get better.

Franchise Reviews/Western Weekend - The Dollars Trilogy

Well, it's Easter. And I've got a four day weekend thanks to an undead carpenter and an egg-laying mammal. Since it involves time away from work, I'm fine with that.

Anyway, I figured I'd take the opportunity to look at Sergio Leone's Man with No Name Trilogy - the Spaghetti Westerns which made a star out of Clint Eastwood. Time to contrast the idealistic look of Hollywood's old west with Italy's cynical look, depicting the west as a violent and immoral place. Granted, they're both equally romanticised depictions, but anyway.

I'll see you soon to start the first review.

Western Weekends - Django Unchained

Three months without any holidays or long weekends can make anyone a mite ornery. And a month where you have both will go real slowly. Sorry, my mind seems to be going. But my mood's the same, so I figured I'd unwind with a Tarantino bloodbath.

Taking place in a pre-Civil War Deep South, we follow Django Freeman, an ex-slave turned bounty hunter played by Jamie Foxx, and his German mentor Dr King Schultz, played by Cristoph Waltz. The film is divided into three parts: It initially follows Dr Schultz as he buys Django to help him find the Brittle Brothers, then goes on to show Shultz take Django on as his protege. The main story involves Schultz helping Django rescue his wife Broomhilda von Shaft from Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner played by Leonardo DiCaprio. So, it's a pretty long film.

Both Jamie Foxx and Cristoph Waltz give great performances, especially Waltz. The best scene is when he shoots the sheriff in the town they're in, and then gives himself up to the marshal - in the process revealing the sheriff's identity as a criminal and requesting the bounty.

The main story can get pretty tense as Django and Schultz deal with Candie and his head house slave Stephen, played by Samuel L Jackson. Candie presents himself as charming and affable, but he is an utterly horrible person, while Stephen is a lot more cunning than he presents himself to be. The tension arises not from whether or not Stephen will see through their scheme, but whether Candie becomes so unbearable that they give themselves away.

Of course, there is a lot of gratuitous violence (it was directed by Quentin Tarantino after all), with a lot of inappropriate language. The anti-slavery message conjures up a lot of unpleasant imagery with this, but it certainly doesn't sugar-coat it.

All in all, the film is a combination of Blazing Saddles and The Wild Bunch.

Western Weekends: Unforgiven

I can't review western films without bringing up Clint Eastwood, so I might as well start with the last western film he did - a gritty exploration of the genre.

Clint Eastwood directs and stars as William Munny, a retired outlaw trying to run a homestead in Kansas when he's approached by The Schofield Kid. The Kid is travelling to the town of Big Whiskey in Wyoming to kill two cowboys who disfigured a prostitute and claim the reward offered by her companions. Will is reluctant at first, but relents as he needs the money, inviting his old partner Ned Logan, played by Morgan Freeman.

The trio soon find themselves coming into conflict with Little Bill Daggett, Big Whiskey's sheriff, played by Gene Hackman. Little Bill doesn't take kindly to criminals and gunfighters in his town, which he demonstrates to English Bob, played by Richard Harris - who is also seeking the reward.

Unforgiven takes apart the myths and romance associated with the West and tries to explore the complicated truths. This is emphasised with English Bob's story arc, with Little Bill telling his biographer the truth about the gunfighter's depicted exploits. Clint Eastwood also depicts himself differently than before; Will Munny struggles to get on an unruly horse, spends a lot of time recovering from a fever, and even struggles to shoot someone when the time comes.

It's the classic example of a revisionist western, and one that is worth checking out.