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This is a Wester that is like many others except that it is the first new Western I have watched after a long time since Silverado in 1985, I think, unless last year’s Back to the Future Part III counts. There is now an entire generation of teenagers that have grown up having never watched a single western movie in a cinema. Maybe cowboy movies are too genteel, or there is violence but it is controlled violence and not senseless, or kids today just cannot imagine themselfs sitting on a horse.
Quigley Down Under features Tom Selleck, a man with a supposed towering, commanding presence and old world bronze look that makes him emanate high vulgar ease. Tom shined as an american marksman adrift in search of work and ultimately settling in Australia. Marston – Alan Rickman has been advertising for an advanced marksman and Selleck should would by a longshot, albe hitting targets so far away the camera wouldn’t catch Marston – Alan Rickman. Selleck is disgusted, however, to learn that Marston wanted means It’s Aborigines he pays him to murder. He commences a vendetta that only wraps up with a compulsory showdown in the corral.
In Sydney, one of the first Australians Quigley meets is Crazy Cora, played by Laura San Giacomo as a deranged American woman with a heart wrenching back story. Cora’s character is eccentric, but in a way where Quigley can grow to love her. San Giacomo is well known for her role in “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” (1989), but this picture may be the reason people come to see more of her. She is more than just another hot chick with great eyebrows. She has amazing presence and authority, she even sings. Her and Selleck have chemistry too; it’s too bad the screenplay doesn’t.
The film itself is not up to the contributions of its stars. A little more thought would have helped. Fighting scenes are accentuated by music resembling a quilting bee, and the talking killer trope is utilized to its full potential. There is no subtlety in execution; this is a classic box office film. The fallacy I refer to, of course, is the frequent mistake of allowing the bad guy to talk too long. He has his enemy trapped. There’s no way out.
He only needs to connect the device right above the eyeballs and select the lunch option, but no, he engages into conversation, which turns out to be quite lengthy. Next, he embarks on some futile manhood assessment that he will most certainly allow put forth. Since the apex of this drama’s construction suffers from the predictable effect, dead screen time is almost certain.
Other parts of the movie are more fascinating. For instance, the representation of the Aborigine characters is interesting. The night San Giacomo tries to rescue the infant from the savage dogs. Alan Rickman’s interpretation of the villain is also noteworthy. He has this sophisticated elegance that seems here to imply evil undertones only invisibly lurk beneath the surface.
It is also pleasurable to watch the visual appeal of Westerns, and I must say, I found those delights enjoyable. The staging of the shootout in the stony mountain slopes. The pursuit of a chase on a horse and the daring ambushes, close shaves and desert hiking are truly captivating. For a film “Quigley Down Under”, I must say, it is well-directed, good acting too but it is unfortunate that the creatives decided to skimp on intelligence and inventiveness on the project.
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