The Hi-Lo Country
by Stephen Frears
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Billy Crudup, Cole Hauser, Darren E. Burrows, Enrique Castillo, Woody HarrelsonDirector: Stephen Frears
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-07-06
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Polygram USA Video
Movie Reviews of The Hi-Lo Country
Movie Review: The fragility of friendship.
Summary: 3 Stars
Hi-Lo country's plot has already been summarized here a few dozen times, so I'll get right to the element that followed me after I finished this film. The principle friendship, between Crudup's and Harrelson's characters, appear like many of our own at first glance: rock-solid, inseparable, and fixed upon the strongest loyalties. They fight for one another and watch each other's backs like hawks; and yet, when a woman comes into play and divides them, the wheels of their loyalty come unhinged and a crashing course of events takes place.
I found this to be the chief factor of the film, and one that has essentially been the downfall of many friendships in my own circle of influence. Hi-lo country doesn't show us the way it should be when faced with divided loyalties; it shows us the way it actually is, and I applaud the film for that, if nothing else.
Summary of The Hi-Lo Country
Based on the novel by Max Evans and directed by Stephen Frears, The Hi-Lo Country charted a long and circuitous route to the big screen, and the final result proves that the material posed a major--and perhaps insurmountable--challenge for screen adaptation. It's easy to see why this contemporary Western was once a coveted project of director Sam Peckinpah; its codes of honor, male bonding, and hardened morality would've played nicely into Peckinpah's artistic legacy. There are clear echoes of Peckinpah in the screenplay by Walon Green (who wrote The Wild Bunch), and while the movie is blessed by Woody Harrelson's vivid performance as a reckless latter-day cowboy, Frears fails to maintain a compelling tone and the rest of the cast nearly fades into the background.Billy Crudup (Without Limits) plays Harrelson's best pal, just returned to New Mexico from service in World War?II with hopes of starting a cattle ranch free from the greedy clutches of a local rancher (Sam Elliott) who dominates the town of Hi-Lo like a bootclad kingpin. Harrelson joins in the effort, but tensions rise when he connects with the sultry seductress (Patricia Arquette) with whom Crudup has fallen inexplicably in love. Harrelson has provoked others as well, and he seems primed for a fall, but The Hi-Lo Country is a film out of balance. Memorable moments are found in abundance, and the film's period detail is impeccable, but Crudup's character is so underwritten and underplayed that his role as narrator and ostensible hero has minimal dramatic impact. By the time fate deals its inevitable blow, it's too late to care. Frears has suffered from similar missteps before (remember Mary Reilly?), and The Hi-Lo Country leaves you wondering what Peckinpah might have done with the novel he so dearly admired. --Jeff Shannon
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