I watched this on the Encore Western Channel. I didn't expect much going in, based on the description on the channel guide, and the film started off slow, but I found myself more interested as the film went on, and half-expected to find out it was based on a true story.
I am a fan of Frederic Forest, altho in this film he is so quiet and seems almost uncomfortable that it's hard to understand how he could have played such a scary character as Blue Duck a few years later in the "Lonesome Dove" mini-series.
Richard Widmark seems to be having too much fun with his role as Red, a departure from the stoic characters he played for many years, and almost seems to be saying, "I don't care what the other actors do, I'm gonna do what I want."
Widmark's character is unapologetically racist, calling Thomas Black Bull "Chief" from the first time they meet, and telling him, "If it weren't for me, you'd be selling blankets."
Red is all about the money, not the sport or Thomas, and scams all the locals at every rodeo Thomas rides in, only to waste all his profits on booze and women and gambling. Thomas doesn't want to go along with the scams but does because deep down he truly loves Red as a father figure. He gets frustrated and tries a couple of times to rebel but fails because his heart isn't really in it.
The film gets a little choppy after Thomas Black Bull finally makes up his mind to do things his own way and abandons Red at a roadside liquor store. All of a sudden his name is Tom Black and he gets the nickname Killer because he rides the horses so hard they drop dead in the arena. Supposedly he has killed four horses this way but we only see one incident.
Tom starts drinking scotch, smokes a few cigarettes, hooks up with a few women who disappear as quickly as they appear, and starts on his own downhill slide, not from the booze or women but from arrogance.
When he gets thrown one too many times and realizes his arrogance isn't going to get him thru life any more he goes back to Red, who is now reaping the results of his hard-drinking, partying life.
* Spoiler *
Tom is finally freed when Red dies and he has nowhere to go any more, and no-one to turn to.
The ending of the film is abrupt, and the only thing I really didn't like about the film, with Tom going back to the Indian school he hated as a boy, which is now being run by tribal elders instead of the White Man, and says he wants to work with horses.
I found this to be slightly out of character. He had no qualms about letting horses buck themselves to death at rodeos, yet we are now to believe that his love of horses is what has been driving him all this time and the only thing he ever really wanted to do.
* End Spoiler *
All in all, I liked the movie. I don't know if I'd put it on my 10-best list, but the story was interesting, the characters were believable, and if nothing else, Richard Widmark's portrayal of Red is worth your time.
I am a fan of Frederic Forest, altho in this film he is so quiet and seems almost uncomfortable that it's hard to understand how he could have played such a scary character as Blue Duck a few years later in the "Lonesome Dove" mini-series.
Richard Widmark seems to be having too much fun with his role as Red, a departure from the stoic characters he played for many years, and almost seems to be saying, "I don't care what the other actors do, I'm gonna do what I want."
Widmark's character is unapologetically racist, calling Thomas Black Bull "Chief" from the first time they meet, and telling him, "If it weren't for me, you'd be selling blankets."
Red is all about the money, not the sport or Thomas, and scams all the locals at every rodeo Thomas rides in, only to waste all his profits on booze and women and gambling. Thomas doesn't want to go along with the scams but does because deep down he truly loves Red as a father figure. He gets frustrated and tries a couple of times to rebel but fails because his heart isn't really in it.
The film gets a little choppy after Thomas Black Bull finally makes up his mind to do things his own way and abandons Red at a roadside liquor store. All of a sudden his name is Tom Black and he gets the nickname Killer because he rides the horses so hard they drop dead in the arena. Supposedly he has killed four horses this way but we only see one incident.
Tom starts drinking scotch, smokes a few cigarettes, hooks up with a few women who disappear as quickly as they appear, and starts on his own downhill slide, not from the booze or women but from arrogance.
When he gets thrown one too many times and realizes his arrogance isn't going to get him thru life any more he goes back to Red, who is now reaping the results of his hard-drinking, partying life.
* Spoiler *
Tom is finally freed when Red dies and he has nowhere to go any more, and no-one to turn to.
The ending of the film is abrupt, and the only thing I really didn't like about the film, with Tom going back to the Indian school he hated as a boy, which is now being run by tribal elders instead of the White Man, and says he wants to work with horses.
I found this to be slightly out of character. He had no qualms about letting horses buck themselves to death at rodeos, yet we are now to believe that his love of horses is what has been driving him all this time and the only thing he ever really wanted to do.
* End Spoiler *
All in all, I liked the movie. I don't know if I'd put it on my 10-best list, but the story was interesting, the characters were believable, and if nothing else, Richard Widmark's portrayal of Red is worth your time.