My review was written in April 1990 after watching the film on RCA/Columbia video cassette.
"Bad Jim" is a good-natured Western about three kindly desperadoes and Billy the Kid's horse. It's a direct-to-video release that should satisfy sagebrush buffs.
Filmmaker Clyde Ware brings authenticity and enthusiasm to the moribund genre. Casting interestingly teams up James Brolin, who played Clark Gable in "Gable and Lombard" with sidekick John Clark Gable, the late star's son and a dead ringer for Kevin Costner. Third member of the triumvirate is Richard Roundtree, in good form and overdue for a Western since "Charley One-Eye" 17 years earlier.
The trio is intercepted by Pepe Serna, on the lam from the authorities. He had been riding with the late Billy the Kid and sells them what he claims to be the Kid's horse. Gable renames it Jim and the three ne'er-do-wells begin a series of bank robberies posing as Billy and his gang.
Rather uneventful film is long on atmosphere, with good lensing of Arizona locations and well-researched folklore (notably a primitive form of lacrosse played by a local Indian tribe). Ware avoids racism or condescension, though his script has a little too much hindsight at times, such as Gable lecturing a young woman on tolerance: "Put yourself in the other guy's shoes or moccasins".
Brolin is comfortable in the saddle and Gable shows promise. Supporting cast is peppered with veterans like Ty Hardin and Rory Calhoun who are fun to see again in this context.
