Lonesome Dove (1989)
I’d been looking forward to watching Lonesome Dove for years, having heard rave reviews from countless people. There’s a 22-part remake from 1995, but when I finally settled down to watch it, I wanted to see the original. Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Robert Urich, Ricky Shroder, D.B. Sweeney, Fredric Forrest, Chris Cooper, Steve Buscemi, and Anjelica Huston made up a pretty irresistible cast especially when you consider their various ages. Tommy Lee sported a ridiculous white wig to make him look ancient, Robert Duvall looked exactly the same as he does now, and Chris Cooper looked like a teenager!
But as much as I was looking forward to it, I didn’t end up sticking with the 4-part miniseries all the way through. It was just too violent and upsetting. In one scene, a man gets attacked by dozens of poisonous snakes while crossing a river on his horse. In another, Diane Lane gets kidnapped and promised to be passed around a group of bandits. Some of the grit and violence was realistic given the setting (the Wild West is definitely not glamorized here) but it was too visceral to be entertaining.
I was also surprised by the slow pace of the first two episodes. In the first episode, nothing happens! A friend of mine read the book and loved it, so I have to believe that a large chunk of the novel was dedicated to character development and the slow pace of life on the ranch. Because of the heavy violence and dramatic plot points, you can expect some good acting to go along with it – but you’re going to have to wait a long time. In the first episode, Tommy Lee just stares out at the sunrise and sunset for an hour, Bob just flirts around with Diane, and Danny barely has any screen time. In fact, Tommy Lee doesn’t get any opportunity to act until the third episode! Danny continually gets shafted by his lack of screen time, but again, I’ll credit that to the original novel. I was pretty impressed by Diane’s performance, though. Although far too pretty to look like a prostitute in the Wild West, she had some great subtle expressions that kept up with all the powerhouse actors around her.
If you loved No Country for Old Men, you’ll probably love this miniseries. I was also bored to tears during that modern western. I normally love westerns, but I just couldn’t stick with this one. Oh well; you can’t win them all.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it.
More Danny Glover movies here!
But as much as I was looking forward to it, I didn’t end up sticking with the 4-part miniseries all the way through. It was just too violent and upsetting. In one scene, a man gets attacked by dozens of poisonous snakes while crossing a river on his horse. In another, Diane Lane gets kidnapped and promised to be passed around a group of bandits. Some of the grit and violence was realistic given the setting (the Wild West is definitely not glamorized here) but it was too visceral to be entertaining.
I was also surprised by the slow pace of the first two episodes. In the first episode, nothing happens! A friend of mine read the book and loved it, so I have to believe that a large chunk of the novel was dedicated to character development and the slow pace of life on the ranch. Because of the heavy violence and dramatic plot points, you can expect some good acting to go along with it – but you’re going to have to wait a long time. In the first episode, Tommy Lee just stares out at the sunrise and sunset for an hour, Bob just flirts around with Diane, and Danny barely has any screen time. In fact, Tommy Lee doesn’t get any opportunity to act until the third episode! Danny continually gets shafted by his lack of screen time, but again, I’ll credit that to the original novel. I was pretty impressed by Diane’s performance, though. Although far too pretty to look like a prostitute in the Wild West, she had some great subtle expressions that kept up with all the powerhouse actors around her.
If you loved No Country for Old Men, you’ll probably love this miniseries. I was also bored to tears during that modern western. I normally love westerns, but I just couldn’t stick with this one. Oh well; you can’t win them all.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it.
More Danny Glover movies here!