Dead Man's Walk

Larry McMurtry seems to be turning "Lonesome Dove" into a cottage industry, but this "prequel" works fairly well on its own terms. It's mounted in good-looking style and has a first-rate whipping scene wherein Jonny Lee Miller, stripped to the waist, is tied to the back of a wagon and given 100 lashes, the first 50 by one man and the second 50 by another. When that first lash hits Miller's bare back, you not only see it and hear it -- you FEEL it!

I've watched this movie about 4 times, and really enjoyed the personifications of these historic characters (albeit apocryphal).

Johnny Lee Miller and David Arquette are very convincing as Gus and Woodrow. The most memorable performance is easily that of Keith Carradine. He portrayed Bigfoot Wallace, a larger than life frontiersman, who actually outlived the firing squad at Saltillo, in a clever, poetic and humorous way. The only downer of the movie, is the same with any and all Larry McMurthy films: they're depressing as hell! Death, tragedy and sufferin'! And as with all of his films, the conquering will of the human spirit shines through. A fine example of a Western film.

In this prequel to "Lonesome Dove" based on the book by Larry McMurtry, we find a young Woodrow Call and Augustus Macrae just starting out as Texas Rangers and beginning to become men.

David Arquette is fantastic as the young Macrae and really captures the gestures and mannerisms that Robert Duvall put too such good use in Lonesome Dove. I was very impressed with his performance and had no trouble believing that he was the young Gus Macrae.

Johnny Lee Miller does not fare as well as the young Woodrow Call and it is hard to believe that this is the character that Tommy Lee Jones played in the original as there is little that ties their acting styles to the same role.

Visually, this is quite well done and comes the closest to Lonesome Dove in grittiness and open plain shots. The young Rangers are surrounded by eccentric characters played with great aplomb by the likes of Brian Dennehy, F.Murray Abraham, Keith Carradine, Harry Dean Stanton and Edward James Olmos.

Strong acting throughout and a crackling good story hilight this worthy sequel and it makes a fine addition to the lore that is Lonesome Dove.

The author of the book "Dead Man's Walk" also wrote the screenplay for this film, which is obvious when one sees how closely the film adheres to the book. Although I have read the book in question, it didn't curtail my enjoyment of the movie.

One notices how closely the young actors portraying Gus McRae and Woodrow Call (David Arquette and Johny Lee Miller) resemble older versions of the same characters as actualized by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. My guess is that making that resemblance a fact was of paramount importance to the filmmakers, as the primary audience for "Dead Man's Walk" has already seen "Lonesome Dove" and would be disappointed if Arquette's performance didn't recall Duvall's and Miller's work wasn't reminiscent of Jones'.

Although it may have been primarily a marketing decision, the strong resemblance between young and old Gus and Call works for me and, oddly enough, binds the two miniseries together.

May we now see a miniseries based on McMurtry's second prequel, "Comanche Moon"?

What a truly wonderful miniseries.I laughed, I cried and I even saw a British Lady riding nude through the desert. It scared the dickens out of the "savages." There was never a dull moment. From the time the series began to the end this band of Texans lost comrades but kept up the fight. How many ways can you kill a Texan? This picture shows you. Seriously; I really great epic to be enjoyed on DVD...all 270 minutes of it in one sitting.