Renegade (2004)

In 1870, after a brutal run-in with an outlaw in a brothel, Mike Blueberry becomes marshal in Arizona where he keeps the peace between Whites and Apaches but an influx of Indian gold treasure-hunters threatens to lead to violence.

Director:

Jan Kounen

Writers:

Matthieu Le Naour (screenplay) (as Matt Alexander), Alexandre Coquelle (screenplay) (as Matt Alexander)

Stars:

Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen, Juliette Lewis

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent Cassel	...	Mike Blueberry
Juliette Lewis	...	Maria Sullivan
Michael Madsen	...	Wallace Sebastian Blount
Temuera Morrison	...	Runi
Ernest Borgnine	...	Rolling Star
Djimon Hounsou	...	Woodhead
Hugh O'Conor	...	Young Mike Blueberry
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Greg Sullivan
Nichole Hiltz	...	Lola (as Nicole Hiltz)
Kateri Walker	...	Kateri
Vahina Giocante	...	Madeleine
Guillermo Arévalo	...	Kheetseen (as Kestenbetsa)
Tchéky Karyo	...	Uncle
Eddie Izzard	...	Prosit
Colm Meaney	...	Jimmy McClure

Storyline

Alledged wayward adolescent Louisiana gentleman Michael 'Mike' Blueberry is dumped by his family with a Wild West uncle. The brute's only 'motivation' is a stick. After a nearly fatal encounter in the brothel with Wallace 'Wally' Sebastian Blount, Mike is left for dead in the desert. A Chiricuahua (Apache) medicine man's family finds, nurses and initiates him. After the shaman's death, Mike returns and becomes the town's honest 'deputy' marshal. Gold fever strikes, with staged Indian brutalities to allow rivaling fiends to invade their sacred mountains.

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Plot Keywords:

leg spreading | bare chested male | female nudity | female frontal nudity | medicine man | 

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Taglines:

The devil you know.

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Genres:

Adventure | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity and drug content

Details

Country:

France Mexico UK

Language:

English Athapascan languages German French Spanish Apache languages

Release Date:

11 February 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

Renegade

Filming Locations:

Sierra de Organos, Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

€36,100,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,191,094 (France), 13 February 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.J.O.Z. Films,La Petite Reine,Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The estate of Jean-Michel Charlier, co-creator and original writer of the Blueberry comic book series, found the film's changes to the plot and tone (especially the shamanism storyline) so appalling that they made a request to have Charlier's name removed from the credits.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Blueberry: He's... dead. And now it's my turn. I am leaving... this world. I'm leaving... my memories. I see...

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Crazy Credits

After the credits there's a quick scene where Wally and his gang are resting on the desert.

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Connections

Referenced in Eddie Izzard: Sexie (2003)

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Soundtracks

Danny Boy
by Frederick Edward Weatherly
Performed by Juliette Lewis

User Reviews

A Mixed Bag

Jan Kounen's latest effort is an existentialist western with opulent visuals, threadbare characterization and a shamanistic undercurrent. It is really unique, but it really isn't brilliant in its uniqueness. The only film that it vaguely reminds me of is EL TOPO, but taken in full, it's still quite different from anything that's out there.

It's a yarn that is suffering an identity crisis - it really doesn't know what it wants to be, and no one element of it wins out in the end. It will not appeal to most western genre fans because even though it has the trappings (and cliches) of a western, it doesn't follow through with them and the characters are too one-note to be likeable or dislikeable. It fails as a revealing exploration of shamanism because it doesn't give the uninitiated any background.

BLUEBERRY has a great cast, but for the most part they're wasted (no pun intended - Tcheky Karyo, in particular) and some of the casting seems gimmicky, especially that of Ernest Borgnine. Even Cassel, who is usually compelling and tries hard, fails to engage. Juliette Lewis does hold interest in a sexy turn as the spirited girl (favorite line - after hitting the weasely character Prosit who stumbles into the saloon, interrupting her rendition of a folk tune, she blurts out "You ruined my song!") in love with the protagonist, and there are some nice full-frontal shots of her in the nude underwater towards the end - one of the film's assets.

Kounen seems to have made a conscious effort to make something really different from his previous film, the brilliantly over-the-top DOBERMANN, and he has succeeded, but the film itself is somewhat disappointing. It has its moments, though. Some sequences are very strong visual storytelling. And I'm sure some people will be annoyed by it, but I actually enjoyed the ponderous pace of the film.

The film is in English and a rare Native American language, with a light sprinkling of French. Subtitling on the non-English parts (there are some fairly extended sequences in the Native American language) would've really helped, I think. Some of the CGI visuals in the peyote trip sequences are beautiful and genuinely disturbing. In general, the parts where Blueberry is among the tribe are the most intriguing and seem to belong in a different film.

Perhaps this one gets better on a second viewing, or after a few hits on some psychotropic substances...