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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: December 18, 2012.
Director: Stephen Frears
Cast: Billy Crudup, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Arquette
Year: 1999
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THE MOVIE:
Stephen Frears' 1999 western is an odd duck of a film. While it has the fine production values of an art house production and the quality acting to go along with it, it also traffics in heavy melodrama and has characters mouthing dialog that just doesn't fit the era.
Set in New Mexico right after WWII, the story centers around two friends. Pete (Billy Crudup) is the thoughtful and quiet one, Big Boy (Woody Harrelson) the wildly charismatic and unpredictable one. Both boys have come home to New Mexico after the war to work the land and do a cattle drive even though that has already become an anachronism. Local, and extremely successful, cattle rancher Jim Ed Love (Sam Elliott) has pretty much taken over the town and turned the herding business corporate.
While the movie deals with the issue of the disappearing way of life for the American cowboy it's the introduction of the female characters that gives the film its true focus. Mona (Patricia Arquette), who is married to Jim Ed Love's foreman is one of the great archetypes of the soapy melodrama - the hot blooded hussy who just can't stop flirting with every man she sees. Even though married she ends up involved with both Pete and even more torridly with Big Boy. But while there is a palpable chemistry between Mona and Big Boy most of the heat is coming from Harrelson's side. Arquette is a gifted actress and beautiful woman but there is a slightly subdued quality to the performance that doesn't really mesh with Harrelson's. Her scenes with the even more stolid Pete are more problematic especially since Pete is also involved with the sweet but drop-dead gorgeous Penelope Cruz. Having Arquette be the wildly sexy one who pits best friends against each other and Cruz as the safe choice just doesn't work.
THE HI-LO COUNTRY has something to say about the dying of the old west as the new corporate west wipes it out but it's a muddled message under a tired torn between two lovers scenario. There are some stunning riding and cattle herding sequences here as well but it seems that Frears, an Irishman, doesn't know how to shoot a Western. He knows how to shoot scenery. And the florid dialog doesn't help either. There is also an interesting homoerotic subtext going on with Harrelson and Crudup but it is never explored properly which makes one wonder why it was hinted at in the first place.
And yes this all heads into a predictable and tragic climax.
AUDIO/VIDEO/EXTRAS:
Shout! Factory have provided a perfectly serviceable transfer in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen from strong source elements. This is a good- looking and well shot film that would have undoubtedly benefitted from a Blu-ray upgrade but for standard def this is about as good as it gets. Black levels, overall detail and the lack of any obvious digital manipulation add up to a solid DVD. Audio is a basic Dolby 2.0 track - it sounds fine with no audible issues. Extras are nonexistent - not even a trailer. Pop it in and press "play movie" folks.
THE FINAL WORD:
Depending own your interest in love triangle dramas THE HI-LO COUNTRY may be attractive. If your looking for a Western, skip it. The movie is both beautifully shot and well-acted for the most part but I really can't recommend it for most viewers.
