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Lonesome Dove is directed by Simon Wincer and stars
Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Rick Schroder,
DB Sweeney, Diane Lane, Steve Buscemi, Frederic Forrest,
Anjelica Houston, Chris Cooper, and Barry Corbin. The film
is based on Larry McMurtry’s novel, and the 4-part miniseries
originally aired in early 1989. ***
Lonesome Dove is the story of two former Texas Rangers,
the fun-loving slacker Augustus McCrae and the rigid, hard-working
Woodrow Call. The twosome has settled down in Lonesome Dove,
a small, almost-deserted town where nothing happens and
they work as ranchers. When an old acquaintance returns
after many years telling stories about uninhabited land
that would be great to settle on, they begin a cattle drive
of several thousand miles. But the journey will not be an
easy one, and the crew will encounter several hardships
along the way. ***
It’s worth noting that Lonesome Dove, before McMurtry
adapted it to a novel, was written as an unproduced screenplay
entitled The Streets of Laredo. The intended film version
that would have been released in the 70s would have starred
John Wayne and James Stewart and been directed by Peter
Bogdanovich. Even though that proposed film likely would
have been great, I can’t picture the movie any other way
than it turned out for this miniseries adaptation. ***
The greatest advantage of Lonesome Dove is that it
adopts the miniseries format. This allows for adequate time
given to develop every section of the plot and every character
in the story. Even one-off characters who are relatively
minor become three-dimensional and well-developed. Director
Simon Wincer utilizes the long run time (total, the four
parts add up to over 6 hours worth of movie) to flesh these
characters out and make them all the more interesting. These
characters endure hardships galore, personal tragedies,
and reunions and terrible separations alike. And unlike
other movies in the past that have tried to tell similar
stories, you’ll actually care. ***
What review of Lonesome Dove would be complete without
mentioning the ensemble cast? The real stand-out here is
the legendary Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae, the fun-loving
half of the main duo. Duvall clearly has a lot of fun with
this role, delivering some brilliant comical one-liners
and great dramatic moments alike – and in later years he
would even call this his favorite role he ever played. He
serves as the perfect foil to Tommy Lee Jones’ Woodrow Call,
the rigid, emotionless, hard-working type. Other stand-out
performances include Robert Urich as Jake Spoon, their returning
old friend who falls in with a bad crowd, Danny Glover as
their long-time scout, Chris Cooper as a distraught sheriff
searching for his disloyal wife, and Anjelica Houston as
a woman from Gus’ past. There are probably a dozen major
characters in the film, if not more, and describing them
in a review is no substitute for experiencing their portrayal
on screen. As such the film has a LOT of characters and
information to absorb, and you’d be doing yourself a major
favor to watch it more than once – your appreciation WILL
improve on repeat viewings. ***
Likewise, no review would be complete without mentioning
the score and the filming of the movie. The cinematography
is beautiful, showing off some exotic locations on the trail
our characters follow. And who could forget the classic
Western score composed by Basil Poledouris? ***
Easily the best miniseries ever made and quite possibly
the best Western ever made, Lonesome Dove stands the test
of time and is as enjoyable 20 years after its debut as
it was when it first hit the airwaves, back in the day of
square-shaped televisions. With its recent remastering,
there’s no better time to rediscover this classic. ---
Image and Sound:
Lonesome Dove went through a heavy restoration effort
for its most recent home video release. The original DVD
was basically the VHS transfer slapped on a disc – heavy
dirt and grain dominating the entire presentation. It was
a terrible transfer for such a great film. ***
Fortunately, nearly past wrongs are righted on this
release. Blu-Ray cranks things up to 1080p, drastically
increasing the amount of detail, particularly in well-lit
scenes. Dirt and damage to the print are no longer issues.
The movie manages to maintain a film-like appearance throughout.
***
Not all is perfect, however. There are a few scenes
(most of which are dark/night scenes) in which grain and
video noise tend to spike and greatly detract from the detail
of the picture. This gets very distracting, especially when
you consider that some of the darker scenes look pristine.
What’s with this inconsistency. Additionally, the film was
cropped from its original 4:3 to a 16:9 ratio to create
a presentation enhanced for widescreen televisions. Fortunately
though, this is rarely distracting or obtrusive. Personally,
I thought some of the scenes out on the prairie looked better
and less cramped in this format. It seriously makes me wonder
if the film was originally shot with the intent of being
cropped for potential theatrical releases. ***
There’s not much to say about the audio, it’s a competent
track that gets the job done and then some. It won’t blow
you away like a recent Hollywood blockbuster on Blu-Ray
will, but there’s nothing I can really complain about, either.
As far as a mini-series goes, I can’t imagine it looking
or sounding any better than this.
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