Another Lone Gunslinger Tale – with a Twist

I thought that ‘The Quick and the Dead’ was just another corny western chock-full of clichés. Seeing that Russell Crowe was in the cast piqued my curiosity, and I decided I’d see it anyway.

Well, the film, indeed, had more than a fistful of western movie clichés, all especially familiar to fans of Sergio Leone and his goofy spaghetti westerns of the '60s and '70s. Contrary to expectations, ‘The Quick and the Dead’ would turn out to be a pleasant two hours of cheap thrills derived from the usual banalities of old gunfighting tales taken to their silly extremes, resulting in a lot of cartoonish fun. But it’s all held together by a core plot that’s morally satisfying in the good-triumphs-over-evil way. Oh, yes, I liked the film, and I'm certainly the last person you would call a fan of the genre.

Young Ellen (Sharon Stone) arrives in the town of Redemption with vengeance on her mind. (The well-executed opening sequence is an effective little piece, and sets the tone for the rest of the film.) Redemption is a dusty, one-street town probably located at the US-Mexican border, populated by scared, cowering townsfolk. Well, it's that time of year when gunfighters of different ethnicities from all over this fictional cowboy world come to Redemption to compete for some serious prize money.

Apparently, Herod (Gene Hackman) is the best shot in town. He's also the ruthless gunfighter-mayor of Redemption who has run the competition from the start. We later learn (and guess at the film's beginning) that it’s Herod whom Ellen is after. The reason? That’s shown to us in flashbacks. (My Sergio Leone-expert friend informs me that this tale of Ellen's personal vendetta was lifted whole from one of the Italian director’s own movies.)

There's also a subplot about Cort, a former crack gunslinger-turned-preacher (yup, Russell Crowe on the eve of fame, before he caught critics’ and viewers’ attention with strong work in ‘L.A. Confidential’, ‘The Inside Story’, and ‘Gladiator’). Formerly best buddies with Herod himself, Cort has given up the violent life for reasons we learn about much later in the movie. However, Herod just wants Cort to return to gunfighting – even if he has to humiliate him first and force him back into it, kicking and screaming – and chained to a post!

A slew of assorted types sign up for the contest, including a drunken slob, a black professional gunfighter, a cardsharp who adds an ace to his deck with every new victory, a funny and deluded Native American, and a young, cocky fellow known as the Kid (Leonardo DiCaprio) – who also happens to be Herod's own son. Against the preacher's wishes, Cort is tossed into the crazy mix by Herod, who meanwhile takes pleasure in tormenting him. A round-robin competition ensues, in which two contestants draw their guns at the instant the town clock chimes the hour, and whoever remains standing wins and goes on to the next round.

Everyone gets a go at the quick draw, and it doesn’t take a genius to guess that Herod, Cort (still a splendid gunslinger despite his gun handicap and lack of practice) and Ellen are among those who will make it to the final round. However, Herod is the sole rule-maker, and towards the end of the competition, he changes the game to suit his aims, announcing that now, whoever is left alive wins.

Well, since this also has to pass for a tribute to the good old western classics, the good guys beat the bad guys in the end, but how they do it is something that’s best not revealed here. The story might be nothing especially new to fans of the western, but to me the interesting novelty in the film was the casting of a woman in the role of vengeful gunfighter.

I like the fact that Ellen is a lone gunslinger who needs no man to define her person. I thought Sharon Stone did a fine job playing Ellen straight. A quiet, taciturn woman a la Clint Eastwood’s nameless character in the Sergio Leone films, she’s also a complex creature regularly plagued by doubts. She’s an excellent shot, and can deliver punches with the best (and worst) of the guys. In the tradition of the best reluctant heroes, she does use her talents – for a good purpose – but only when the situation calls for it.

Russell Crowe plays Cort, a decent guy trying to make up for all the sins he's committed during his violent days. Like Ms Stone, Mr Crowe plays the role without a smirk. There's that intensity and seriousness of his that make Cort completely believable as a man with a conscience, and he wisely avoids satirizing the character or the story. Soon after this film came out, Russell Crowe would emerge as one of the best imports from Down Under to grace Hollywood. It’s a privilege to witness this pre-celebrity effort, which shows to great advantage his potential as an actor. (Another bit of trivia: the then-unknown Mr Crowe was personally hand-picked by co-producer Stone for the part).

As Herod, Gene Hackman is the perfect villain who derives his power and authority solely from mocking everyone else in town and killing those who object to his authority. At the same time you regret the misuse of Herod’s cleverness for evil purposes. Mr Hackman is so damn good, he can do this kind of campy bad guy role blindfolded and with one arm tied behind his back.

Unfortunately, Leonardo DiCaprio was the weakest link here, seeming out-of-sync with the rest of the story. Was he supposed to offer comic relief? Or a hint of romantic interest for Ellen? Or perhaps he was here just to draw the young teenyboppers into the theatres? His character was not indispensable, and losing him would harm the tale not one bit. (A misstep on Ms Stone’s part –Mr Di Caprio apparently was another personal choice of hers.)

The unfocused plot was another flaw. I wasn't sure if this was Ellen's story, or Cort's, and the emphasis kept shifting back and forth between the two. Perhaps Crowe's strong, if quiet, performance could even be faulted for calling attention to Cort's own tale, resulting in a slightly confusing mix of parallel subplots. Herod is the obvious link between both stories, but the movie might have benefited from tighter editing and focus.

The use of overly sharp, clean photography was a distraction. It gave the film a TV movie-of-the-week, Hallmark Hall of Fame look. Sergio Leone may have made cheesy westerns, but his movies were made, and look like they were made, for the big screen. In them, the viewer could almost feel the dust and dirt and sweat everywhere, unlike here, where the ‘clean’ dust and neat sets betray their Hollywood movie lot origins far removed from the audience's immediate experience. To his credit, though, director Sam Raimi's tribute to Sergio Leone does acknowledge the absurdist humour of the original even as his film remains just a pale imitation.

‘The Quick and the Dead’ is hardly Oscar material, but it should be taken simply for what it is – an unpretentious caricature of the western film done in the vein of the master, Sergio Leone. If you watch it with that in mind, I think you’ll have a pretty good time with it, too. Good pick for a rainy day. ***1/2 (rounded off to 4 stars).

~~~~~~~~~~

Resurrected from ye old, guano-decorated batcave and extensively rewritten for your reading pleasure.