High-schoolers with a hankerin’ for tales of the Old West may enjoy this sepia-toned homage to Wild Bill Hickok (Jeff Bridges) in his last days, which does little revisionist damage to his rootin’-tootin’ legend. They’ll have to accept the film’s ruminative pace, non-chronological narrative and dreamy use of black-and-white flashbacks. Bursts of action interrupt such reveries, but the violence looks choreographed, impressionistic and not all that bloody; the most vivid element is the neighing of horses caught in the crossfire. An explicit (and largely gratuitous) sex scene between Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin) and Wild Bill earns the rating; add a touch of semi-nudity and occasional profanity to the mix, plus Hickok’s rough remarks about freed slaves and Indians that fit his character and time.
A tired, 39-year-old Hickok arrives at the raunchy boom town of Deadwood Gulch, S.D., in 1876. He’s aiming to drink, gamble and smoke a few pipes of opium in Chinatown while he waits for glaucoma to end his gunfighting career. A nervous whippersnapper named Jack McCall (David Arquette) arrives in Deadwood to kill the great man, based on the belief that Wild Bill once seduced and abandoned McCall’s mother. Surrounded by admirers and friends, Hickok thinks back on his life, holds his poker hand steady and waits for McCall to act.
For three gunfighter sagas on video that would be OK for kids who aren’t ready for Wild Bill, read on.
P.S. FOR HIGH-SCHOOLERS: This movie has a lot in common with The Shootist (PG, 1976), in which John Wayne plays a dying gunfighter unable to find peace. Ron Howard, now the director of movies such as Apollo 13, plays the teen-ager who idolizes him. Shane (1953), starring Alan Ladd, is an even greater film about a gunfighter and the kid who admires him. Back in 1936, Gary Cooper played Wild Bill in The Plainsman.
‘White Man’s Burden’ (R, 1 hr., 30 min.)
Imagine an America in which blacks hold the power, wealth and cultural sway and the disenfranchised “underclass” is white. Teens interested in race relations and social problems may find the idea of a flipped status quo hugely thought-provoking. But White Man’s Burden may lose them after its opening scenes because it is poorly realized and visually and verbally dull. It’s set in the present day but feels self-conscious and unhip, as if it were made in a vacuum. John Travolta plays Louis, a poor family man who’s unfairly fired from a factory owned by upper-cruster Thaddeus Thomas (Harry Belafonte). Desperate, he kidnaps Thomas at gunpoint and demands restitution, dooming himself to the fate of a tragic hero. Occasional strong profanity and moderate violence earn the R, but the movie is mild overall.
P.S. FOR TEENS: The 1964 film Black Like Me turned the tables in a different way: A white journalist has his skin darkened with injections so people will think he’s black. Then he writes about how differently he’s treated.
‘The Crossing Guard’ (R, 1 hr., 57 min.)
This simple tale of grief and redemption nearly disappears in writer-director Sean Penn’s artsy, overripe technique, and profanity, drinking, nudity and sexual innuendo make it inappropriate for all but the most mature high-schoolers. Nearly hidden amid Penn’s cinematic frippery is a touching story and some terrific acting by Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston.
Nicholson plays Freddy, a miserable, boorish guy who has never faced the death of his young daughter, killed years earlier by a drunk driver. He hangs out in strip clubs and drinks, waiting for John Booth (David Morse), the man who hit his daughter, to get out of prison so he can avenge her death. Huston, as Freddy’s ex-wife, cannot make him see reason. Finally, the confrontation between the two men offers both a form of grace.
‘GoldenEye’ (PG-13, 2 hr., 10 min.)
Pierce Brosnan as 007 foils a plot by renegade Russians to conquer the world with a satellite called GoldenEye. His adventures and his gadgets will fascinate teens and some younger kids, if parents don’t mind them hearing that classic Bondian sexual innuendo (though it’s relatively tasteful for these tacky times). Dapper and cool, but a tad underwhelming as James Bond, Brosnan spars with a villainess who moans with pleasure as she kills her victims. He also skydives into a nose-diving plane, bungee-jumps off a dam, engages in noisy fisticuffs and in one or two subtly implied sexploits. The language is mild, and even the violence relatively bloodless. Often amusing, but too often dull.
Jane Horwitz reviews movies for The Washington Post and other publications.
