Blind Justice (1994) (TV)

Director:

Richard Spence

Writer (WGA):

Daniel Knauf (written by)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

The Body Count Is About To Rise ...

Plot:

Canaan, a mysterious gunfighter left nearly blind from Civil War combat, roams through Mexico with a baby he has sworn to protect...

Plot Keywords:

Interracial Relationship | Harlot | Rape Attempt | Extramarital Affair | Obsession

Cast

Armand Assante	...	Canaan
Elisabeth Shue	...	Caroline
Robert Davi	...	Alacran
Adam Baldwin	...	Sgt. Hastings
Ian McElhinney	...	Father Malone
Danny Nucci	...	Roberto
M.C. Gainey	...	Bull
Titus Welliver	...	Sumner
Jack Black	...	Private
Michael O'Neill	...	Spencer Heyman
Douglas Roberts	...	Capt. Teller
Gary Cervantes	...	Luis
Jesse Dabson	...	Pvt. Wilcox
Stanton Davis	...	Officer
Jimmy Herman	...	Shaman

Also Known As:

Canaan's Way

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Apacheland Movie Ranch, 4369 S. Kings Ranch Road, Gold Canyon, Arizona, USA

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

Elements of the film's story and main character were inspired by the DC comic book "Jonah Hex". It's a story of a deformed ex-confederate soldier who works as a bounty hunter.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Canaan carries two Colt Single Action Army 6-shot revolvers, which carry a maximum of six rounds each. However, in one shooting scene, he fires eight shots from one pistol, then draws the other and fires only four rounds. He then states that the second revolver is empty.

Quotes:

Canaan: What kind of town is this? You got preachers who pack iron!

Armand Assante in an Out of Sight (Literally) Performance!

The movie itself is not that great... it's an unimaginatively-conceived western that is not much more gritty or believable than an episode of "Gunsmoke". The premise is terrific, hearkening back to the plots of old Italian spaghetti westerns... a blind gunfighter carrying a newborn baby comes to a small town overrun by bad men and proceeds to shoot out with every bad guy within range. What makes this movie memorable for me, though, is a GREAT performance by Armand Assante as the blind Canaan. He transcends every other acting job in the movie... no one else seems either authentic or interesting. Assante, however, has done his homework and seems like he wouldn't be out of place at all in an old "Django" movie. Elisabeth Shue is pretty but totally unconvincing as a frontier femme who comes to the aid of Assante and the young baby girl. Every one else is a typical western cartoon... stuffy army officers, nasty bandits with thick accents, etc. (Jack Black appears at one point as an army sentry... which is a little more disconcerting now that he is famous for his more comedic roles.) Fortunately, whenever Assante is on screen he makes the movie work... even some of the ridiculous one-liners. "How do you like your eggs? Scrambled?" (said while clutching a bad guy's genitals).