Monday, August 4, 2008

Lonesome Dove [2-disc Collector's Edition]


"Lonesome Dove" began life as a failed screenplay by author Larry McMurtry who had hoped to land John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart for the leads. The movie didn´t get off the ground, but McMurtry refused to give up and expanded the story into a novel. Producer Suzanne De Passe bought the rights to Lonesome Dove before it was even published. Many questioned the move as Westerns were long since dead. However, the book became a huge success and won the Pulitzer in 1985. The mini-series was put into production with a budget of about $20 million, a hefty sum for television. Naysayers were once again eating crow when "Lonesome Dove" was finally aired on CBS in 1989. The broadcast scored big in the ratings and netted 18 Emmy nominations. It won the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series for TV and an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. The latter award seems like a no-brainer when you run down the all-star cast.

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones head up the cast in the lead roles of former Texas Rangers, Augustus McRae and Woodrow F. Call. The characters fit Duvall and Jones like a pair of well-worn shoes. They´re absolutely perfect for the ornery, rough and tumble cowboys. Sure, you´ve seen both actors play these types of characters numerous times and I´m sure you´ll see them play them again, but damned if they aren´t great in those roles. Honestly, "Lonesome Dove" could have been six hours of Duvall and Jones sitting at a campfire, roasting marshmallows and I´d still be entertained. However, the veteran thespians do get a meaty story to work with.

McRae and Call have long since put their range riding days behind them and settled down to run a ranch outside the tiny town of Lonesome Dove which appears to only have a population of five people. McRae is more laid back and fun loving while Call is taciturn and all business. Call looks down on his partner´s penchant for partying and seeking the company of the town´s only prostitute Lorena Wood (Diane Lane). McRae is smitten by Lorena as is practically everybody else in the film. The pair of ex-Rangers has an assortment of ranch hands working under them. First, there´s Newt (Rick Schroder), the son of a prostitute named Maggie who the pair took in. Call was sweet on Maggie years ago and it´s obvious to most everyone that Newt is his son, but Call is not the one to admit or acknowledge the truth. There´s also Joshua Deets (Danny Glover), a former scout who served with McRae and Call and who possesses a talent for tracking; Dish Boggett (D.B. Sweeney), a ranch hand who holds an unrequited love for Lorena; and Pea Eye Parker (Timothy Scott), another former Ranger whose real name has long since been forgotten.

One day, an old Army buddy, Jake Spoon (Robert Ulrich) rides into town with big talk about the frontier. This stirs up Call. Hungering for adventure, Call decides to become the first man to raise cattle in Montana. He convinces McRae to pack up after he mentions the man´s childhood sweetheart Clara (Anjelica Huston) lives on a ranch along the trail. Clara has since married another man and started her own family. Sadly, her husband was kicked by a horse and left a vegetable. Lorena, having fallen for Jake, accompanies them for the cattle drive, but finds the man isn´t the rock solid support she needs. Along the way to Montana, McRae and Call add onto their ever-expanding group as well as lose a few to the dangers of Indians and Mother Nature.

Meanwhile, July Johnson (Chris Cooper), a sheriff in Arkansas is pressured into searching for Spoon who accidentally shot Johnson´s brother, the mayor of the town. Johnson´s wife, Elmira (Glenne Headly) convinces him to go and take along her son, Joe (Adam Faraizl). With her men gone, Elmira sets out for Nebraska with two buffalo hunters (one of whom is played by Steve Buscemi) in search of an old lover, an outlaw named Dee Boot.

"Lonesome Dove" began life as a failed screenplay by author Larry McMurtry who had hoped to land John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart for the leads. The movie didn´t get off the ground, but McMurtry refused to give up and expanded the story into a novel. Producer Suzanne De Passe bought the rights to Lonesome Dove before it was even published. Many questioned the move as Westerns were long since dead. However, the book became a huge success and won the Pulitzer in 1985. The mini-series was put into production with a budget of about $20 million, a hefty sum for television. Naysayers were once again eating crow when "Lonesome Dove" was finally aired on CBS in 1989. The broadcast scored big in the ratings and netted 18 Emmy nominations. It won the Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series for TV and an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. The latter award seems like a no-brainer when you run down the all-star cast.

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones head up the cast in the lead roles of former Texas Rangers, Augustus McRae and Woodrow F. Call. The characters fit Duvall and Jones like a pair of well-worn shoes. They´re absolutely perfect for the ornery, rough and tumble cowboys. Sure, you´ve seen both actors play these types of characters numerous times and I´m sure you´ll see them play them again, but damned if they aren´t great in those roles. Honestly, "Lonesome Dove" could have been six hours of Duvall and Jones sitting at a campfire, roasting marshmallows and I´d still be entertained. However, the veteran thespians do get a meaty story to work with.

McRae and Call have long since put their range riding days behind them and settled down to run a ranch outside the tiny town of Lonesome Dove which appears to only have a population of five people. McRae is more laid back and fun loving while Call is taciturn and all business. Call looks down on his partner´s penchant for partying and seeking the company of the town´s only prostitute Lorena Wood (Diane Lane). McRae is smitten by Lorena as is practically everybody else in the film. The pair of ex-Rangers has an assortment of ranch hands working under them. First, there´s Newt (Rick Schroder), the son of a prostitute named Maggie who the pair took in. Call was sweet on Maggie years ago and it´s obvious to most everyone that Newt is his son, but Call is not the one to admit or acknowledge the truth. There´s also Joshua Deets (Danny Glover), a former scout who served with McRae and Call and who possesses a talent for tracking; Dish Boggett (D.B. Sweeney), a ranch hand who holds an unrequited love for Lorena; and Pea Eye Parker (Timothy Scott), another former Ranger whose real name has long since been forgotten.

One day, an old Army buddy, Jake Spoon (Robert Ulrich) rides into town with big talk about the frontier. This stirs up Call. Hungering for adventure, Call decides to become the first man to raise cattle in Montana. He convinces McRae to pack up after he mentions the man´s childhood sweetheart Clara (Anjelica Huston) lives on a ranch along the trail. Clara has since married another man and started her own family. Sadly, her husband was kicked by a horse and left a vegetable. Lorena, having fallen for Jake, accompanies them for the cattle drive, but finds the man isn´t the rock solid support she needs. Along the way to Montana, McRae and Call add onto their ever-expanding group as well as lose a few to the dangers of Indians and Mother Nature.

Meanwhile, July Johnson (Chris Cooper), a sheriff in Arkansas is pressured into searching for Spoon who accidentally shot Johnson´s brother, the mayor of the town. Johnson´s wife, Elmira (Glenne Headly) convinces him to go and take along her son, Joe (Adam Faraizl). With her men gone, Elmira sets out for Nebraska with two buffalo hunters (one of whom is played by Steve Buscemi) in search of an old lover, an outlaw named Dee Boot.

No comments: