Streets of Laredo

Streets of Laredo - The sequel to Lonesome Dove

Streets of Laredo has much to offer - a long tale of famous Texas legends - some fictional, like Captain Woodrow F. Call, others real - John Wesley Hardin (played by Randy Quaid) and Judge Roy Bean (played by Ned Beatty).

If you're looking for a film to take you back to the wild, wild West, this one will do. It's a quiet story though, not full of action, as some shoot-em-ups are. Like Lonesome Dove it has heartbreak and pain, and some very quiet humor. Roy Bean and Call have a particularly great scene together, as do the young killer Call is after and John Wesley Hardin.

The story is also full of great ideas, something sorely lacking in most films. Family. Loyalty. Old Age. Change. Eastern values. Western traditions.

And while Sam Shephard has always been a respected actor, he MAKES this movie as he is at the center of one of the oldest conflicts on Earth - what makes a man a man, family or duty. He is so quiet! And so powerful when he does speak. His wife Lorena, played by Sissy Spacek, speaks for him most eloquently. Is she, or is she not THE greatest actor Texas ever produced? Who knew George Carlin could act?

James Garner is genuine, and authentic, as he always is.

The story is full of great characters - who fall away until the principles are left to resolve, or not resolve their conflicts.

The score is haunting, the cinematography is especially beautiful, the story is timeless, which is what one expects from Larry McMurtry.

Enjoy!

I bought first the lonesome dove DVD and then the collection of Return to Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo and Dead man Walking I think it was.

I have seen all but the last now.

Streets of Laredo this is the worst of the three. I loved the first one and also enjoyed the second but this just got to much the same and too stereotypical.

Every women is a whore or used to be. Every character is so one dimensional. 95 % of the men are pigs whereas the last 5 % is gentlemen???. A lot of talk about children going bad but they don't reflect much about it... It's like they can't think ahead. It's like watching aliens.

Really don't like the Joey Garza character. and overall it was little in this mini series that interested me.

First of all, the vast majority of those giving "Streets of Laredo" bad reviews have no legitimate complaints whatsoever. People whine about the dark tone, the killings, the acting, et cetera. Rather, this film has much more in common with the real old west, to a greater degree even than series like "Deadwood". Of course, many of the immature, misguided western fans seem to want happy horse-riding hippies who talk hard and rough but don't live it. How stupid to expect such from the real killers of the west.

Woodrow F. Call (James Garner) is not a nice man. And he should not be pigeonholed as one, either. Garner plays him the way he should be, and is even more impressive than Tommy Lee Jones in "Lonesome Dove", the series which preceded this one. Indeed, despite the rabid fanbase of "Lonesome Dove" (of which I very nearly belong), this series is undoubtedly superior. First of all, the direction is a vast improvement. Joseph Sargent handles the scenery and actors with far more intelligence and grace than Simon Wincer, who proved his woeful inadequacies when he returned for the prequel "Comanche Moon" last year. That series was pure trash, horribly acted and directed despite the great actors involved.

There are many great performances beside Garner. Charles Martin Smith, Sam Shepard, and Sissy Spacek are pure class. Smith, especially, has always been an excellent unnoticed actor. This is perhaps his best performance since "Never Cry Wolf" (1983). He is sympathetic and identifiable as the nervous railman. Shepard and Spacek play husband and wife quite intuitively. Their character development is well-performed to the highest degree. This is also one of Spacek's best performances.

Larry McMurtry has a very intuitive writing style, and the film carries over much of his subtlety. There's no overblown dialogue or direction to be found in "Streets of Laredo", something that the original "Lonesome Dove" series sometimes slipped into. I would say, without reservation, that this is one of the very best and most realistic depictions of the true west. A great film, with stunning acting and direction. A must see for any true film fan - narrow-minded western fans looking for a 'Hollywood' west need not apply.

RATING: 8.5 out of 10

Granted, both the original Lonesome Dove novel and film are unique works of extremely fascinating classic story telling. Streets of Laredo obviously has a great deal to live up to and, when viewed or read in conjunction with Dove, it does suffer in the sense that our familiarity is slightly snubbed. Of course not much can measure up to the original, and so obviously this is something that cannot be helped. This sequel is far more brutal and violent that its predecessor. Violent death or at least the threat of it is an ever present character awash on Laredo's landscape much more than Dove.That said, Streets of Laredo as a film stands firmly upon its own merits which are quite impressive.Firstly, the cast is sublime. James Garner, always a vastly underrated actor, creates a stoic yet tragic Call. His final scene is at once heart breaking and resonating with strong quiet hope. His performance is all about what film acting aspires to become: he moves mountains without words.The rest of the cast is on equal footing with Garner. Playwrite Sam Shepard's Pea Eye, although losing much of Tim Scott's original Bentonesque forlorn rube, is filled with earthy heroism and and poetry. Sissy Spacek, as the whore re-incarnated as a schoolmarm Lorena produces the tough backbone needed to survive the Texas prarie. Comedian George Carlin's finely drawn panhandle scamp solidifies the theory that the border between comedy and tragedy is narrow at best. These are just a few of the excellent standouts in the sound ensemble.Secondly, there is the very narrative itself. It plays like a Sunday funeral dirge-ever aware of the passing of an era, yet peering into a glimmer future of simple optimism and hope. In McMurtry's frequently brutal world, everyone has a shot at redemption. Grace isn't free but it is availble to all willing to run the gauntlet, as long as they have a pure heart. In this film, pure of heart may not necessarily mean pure of deed, but at least evil is evil and good is good.This film bravely balances the aformentioned violence with scenes of wry humour and gentleness. In that regard, Laredo comes the closest anyone has come to honoring Peckinpah's greater works.The film, because it was produced for television is already mostly forotten by the minnions, but richly deserving of an audience. Enjoy and Savor.

If you haven't seen any of the other "Lonesome Dove" movies, "Streets of Laredo" is a strong drama with an excellent cast. James Garner is arguably America's least appreciated actor because he was always so handsome and charismatic. News flash: He's a terrific actor, not just a movie/TV star. Sissy Spacek is always wonderful. And all supporting parts filled with fine actors.

Problem is, for those of us who've seen the others in this saga, much of this one doesn't make sense. We have no idea of the year. "Lonesome Dove" was set in 1877, a year after "Custer's Last Stand." Gus, Woodrow and Pea Eye were "old men" about 50 years old who'd been together for 30 years. Lorena was in her early 20s, shy and illiterate. Now Woodrow is perhaps ten years older, Lorena is much older, and is a strong, worldly schoolteacher married to a Pea Eye who's at least ten years younger than the original Pea Eye. They've been married for at least 15 years, and have five children. And Woodrow and Pea Eye have STILL known each other only 30 years.

We wonder why Woodrow is in Laredo instead of at his thriving ranch in Montana. We wonder how and where Lorena and Pea Eye got together, given she went to San Francisco while Pea Eye stayed at the Montana ranch.

The novel doubtless fills in lots of these gaps, but the movie shouldn't require reading the novel. Perhaps McMurtry, a true American literary treasure, just threw this screenplay together.

But even those of us who know and love "Lonesome Dove," still one of the three best things ever made for television (with "Gettysburg" and "Band of Brothers"), can detach "Streets of Laredo" from the other three, ignore its many flaws, and just watch it on its own. When we do that, we enjoy a lot of wonderful acting in a very good drama.