Product Description
-------------------
Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae pursue three
outlaws, Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump, Comanche horse thief
Kicking Wolf and a Mexican bandit king. Now in their middle
years, they also struggle with their personal lives, Gus with
Clara Forsythe, the love of his life, and Call with Maggie
Tilton, the young prostitute who loves him. Meanwhile their
partners-in-arms Deets, Jake Spoon and Pea Eye Parker help the
Rangers protect the advancing western frontier from the defiant
Comanches who are determined to defend their land and way of
life.
.com
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It's billed as "the second chapter in the Lonesome Dove saga,"
but Comanche Moon is actually a prequel to that much-loved 1989
miniseries. And while there's no doubt that it has some very big
boots to fill, this three-part (on two DVDs, including bonus
features) production is rarely less than eminently watchable and
entertaining. Continuity is a positive factor: Larry McMurtry,
who wrote the novel on which it's based, also co-wrote the
screenplay, and Lonesome Dove director Simon Wincer returns as
well. As for the cast, it's certainly not as star-studded as its
predecessor, but Steve Zahn (as Gus McCrae), Karl Urban (Woodrow
Call), Linda Cardellini (Clara Allen), and the others manage to
suggest the characterizations brought to the screen by Robert
Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, and Anjelica Huston, respectively,
without mimicking them. Of course, there are new faces on hand as
well, principally Val Kilmer (looking a mite chubby, perhaps due
to all the scenery he chews in his portrayal of Texas Rangers
Captain Inish Scull) and Rachel Griffiths (as Scull's horny
wife).
As the tale begins in 1858, Call and McCrae, some years away
from becoming the cattlemen depicted in Lonesome Dove, are
Rangers serving under the educated and eccentric Scull as they
work to protect the territory against marauding Comanches, led by
the stern, vengeful Buffalo Hump (Wes Studi) and his crazed son,
Blue Duck (Adam Beach). When Scull's horse is stolen by one of
the Indians, he sets out to retrieve the beast, promoting both
Call and McRae to Captain, and the rest of the story revolves
primarily around them; in fact, although there's a reasonable
a of action (including the Comanche raid on Austin that
opens Part Two), Comanche Moon is much less plot-dependent than
character-driven, and it is Call (tough, taciturn, and totally
clueless when it comes to the fair sex) and best friend McRae (an
open-hearted, self-described jester) who are the most engaging of
the bunch as they navigate the deep waters of their work and love
lives (McRae with Clara and Call with the prostitute Maggie
Tilton, played by Elizabeth Banks). McMurtry and co-writer Diana
Ossana's dialogue manages to be at once plain and poetic,
colorful and poignant, and regardless of what's actually
happening onscreen, the miniseries has a light, often whimsical
charm that separates it from most Westerns made for big and small
screen alike. Extras include a "making of" featurette and more.
--Sam Graham
Stills from Comanche Moon (click for larger image)
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