Wild Bill
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Movie Reviews of Wild Bill
Movie Review: History Revisited
Summary: 4 Stars
Wild Bill, 1995 film
The film begins with the unloading of a coffin in Deadwood. His mourners talk of the dearly departed. Wild Bill Hickok practiced shooting while aiming in a mirror! [Bad for your hearing?] There is a flashback to an Indian religious ceremony. [Hollywood history?] A shooting shows Wild Bill's skills. He is handy with his fists, and, not unequal to many. Next Abilene Kansas where a visitor celebrates by shooting inside the city limits, a violation of the law. Bill shoots the wrong man in a gun fight. He tries show business in New York. His glaucoma is diagnosed with a warning of blindness. Bill defends himself from a cripple. Then he moved to Deadwood where gold was discovered so men could get rich quick.
A young man challenges Wild Bill. [No reason given.] "Calamity" Jan is there. Life is rough, even in a resort. We hear about Hickok's early life and his first gunfight. Six or seven? Opium smoking to soothe his nerves? [We see another flashback where the Cheyenne warn Hickok and his friends against hunting buffalo.] Who is Jack McCall? Is his story true? Another flashback to a dance years earlier to explain his past. Winning a watch can have deadly consequences. Was Jack McCall a paid assassin? A new gold strike draws most of the people out of town. A gang attacks Wild Bill when he is involved with "Calamity" Jane. [The film become talky here, we all know how it will end.] There is a flashback to an insane asylum. [The "mush and molasses" can cause pellagra, which affects the mind and the body.] Then more talk to fill up the time, instead of the usual chase scene. Then Wild Bill goes after the gang to settle their differences. But he made a last mistake by trusting an enemy [in this film].
Wild Bill Hickok was involved in the Kansas fighting before the Civil War on the anti-slavery side. He was a soldier for the Union, then began a career that made him famous (due to the dime novels that appealed to the public). Hollywood revises history to provide drama, and this entertainment teaches history to the public. ["Don't know much about history?"] This drama is presented as a series of scenes, it would be better in chronological order. If this film wasn't successful that is one reason. Decades earlier Hollywood's Production Code censored many of the facts about the personalities of the "Wild West". This film serves as a correction.
The west was settled by homesteaders with families, not the sort who hang out at taverns, drinking and gambling and fighting. You should read "What They Didn't Teach You About the Wild West" or "...the Civil War" by Mike Wright for more information.
Movie Review: The "Real" Wild West
Summary: 4 Stars
Those of us who grew up in the 1950s in the early days of television, black and white television, got our heroes, our Western heroes strictly in white hat, and our bad guys strictly in black. And the Indians (a.k.a. Native Americans) well, the less said about the treatment of those benighted and betrayed people the better. Of course this view was all hokum, or worst. It took the likes of Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCormack and others in literature to give us a more realistic view of the rawness, untamed rawness of the Old West. And the likes of Walter Hill to give us a more truthful cinematic view, a view with muddy streets, whiskey breathe, fistfights at the drop of a hat, or less, treachery among enemies, treachery among friends, many social diseases and all. And that was on the good days. The good director here has taken on the legend of Wild Bill Hickock, generally given the better of it in Western lore as an associate of Buffalo Bill, a civilizing influence, and a king hell gunfighter.
Of course, the subtext for this review is that the actor playing Will Bill is none other that last year's Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges for his "modern" cowboy role (singer-songwriter, okay) in Crazy Hearts. My argument underlying the choice of subtext is that Bridges was born to play theses good old boy Western parts and has done mainly stellar work in the genre ever since he cut his teeth on the modern Texas good-old-boy-in-the-making Duane Jackson in the film adaptation of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show. And at the acting level that is true here, although the existential characterization and the Bridges cool wit is perhaps a little over the top for the nitty-gritty West of the late 19th century.
One comes away from this film feeling, and maybe not incorrectly, that the distance between hero and villain (here in this contrived concoction about the manner of Bill's untimely end, as villain, the son, the driven son of "spurned" mother whom was once Wild Bill's lover) is who is left standing at the end. And for most of his life from his service in the Union Armies during the American Civil War until that fateful day that Bill was just one step too cool Will Bill was the last one left standing. But, see there was that little matter of the spurned woman, and that driven son to lay old Bill low. In any case if you have not seen a Western since the 1950s (although I guess I would want to know where you have been) you will be hard-pressed to sort out the heroes from the villains here. The Indians (a.k.a. Native Americans) as usual, in real life or fiction, get short shrift.
Movie Review: An overlooked Western of the middle nineties!
Summary: 4 Stars
Although the Prize as Best Actor will be announced the next March 7, I have no single doubt that at last, Jeff Bridges will win the deserved Prize, (repeating the feat respect the Golden Globe as Best Actor)through a constant and indomitable effort, along his formidable career.
To my mind there previous and remarkable films put me on advise about his formidable skills as actor. The first movie was "Fat city" from 1972 and directed by John Huston. The second was "The fisher king" directed by the Magician director, Terry Gilliam and the third entry was precisely this one, a film that realy was shadowed by "Tombstone", the best Western of the nineties.
His performance was by far overwhelming and absorbing in this biopic about bill Hicock. Watch it, without regarding considerations of second order about if this biography was or not adjusted to the historical truth.
Enjoy it, and in case Jeff won the Oscar, he will abandon the place as the most underrated actor in Hollywood. Do you have any suggestion for his succesor?.
Movie Review: Testosterone booster...
Summary: 4 Stars
I loved this movie! It didn't do well until video. I had never even heard of it until I was at Blockbuster. Jeff Bridges plays an excellent Wild Bill. Tough, gritty and sure of his immortality. And Ellen Barkin is a lovable Calamity Jane (more women should be like her!! hehe) Anyways, this film could have delved more into the Life of Wild Bill as compared to his death. There are great scenes in this movie, but it is hard to digest on the first viewing. The first 2/3s of the movie is kinda hacked up bits and pieces of Bill's life. I would have liked to see more of his earlier years that led up to the man who became a legend. But, it is very enjoyable and makes for great testosterone boost. Ladies probably won't like it (my wife hates it), but a great movie for the guys and a lot of beer.!Movie Review: they filmed the legend and not the facts...and I enjoyed it!
Summary: 4 Stars
Yup they took tons of legends and myths about Wild Bill and shoe-horned em all into this flick featuring wonderful performances by the entire cast. Bridges performance as Wild Bill doesnt completely white-wash the character and so you may or may not like that. I enjoyed it and as a student of the life and legend of James Butler Hickok I had a good time spotting the myths and legends used to make this film. It sure seems to me that director Hill had to make a lot of cuts to decrease the running time of this film and I bet the director's cut would be much better. Still this is what it is and it's not bad and in fact it's damn fun. Just remember that this isn't a documentary. Fans of the legends and myhts of Wild Bill may enjoy it more than others. I did.