Two for Texas

The Turner cable-TV movie, 'Two for Texas' will undoubtedly be compared with 'James Michener's Texas', another made-for-TV production that covers much the same ground. But while 'Texas' suffers for attempting too much, becoming bogged down in melodramatic elements, 'Two for Texas' is a lean, rugged adventure that uses famous characters (Sam Houston, Jim Bowie) in support of the story, instead of as its focus, making this a FAR more enjoyable film!

The story begins in a chain gang in Louisiana. When one of the sadistic 'bosses' is accidentally murdered, two of the convicts (Kris Kristofferson and Scott Bairstow) escape, and head for Texas, hoping to start a new life, serving under General Sam Houston. The older of the pair, Hugh Allison (Kristofferson), in prison for killing a card shark, takes events as they come, with the easy grace of a 'survivor'; Son Holland (Bairstow), the younger man, left Tennessee for adventure, only to get ten years after being falsely accused of stealing a woman's purse.

En route to Houston, the pair become involved with an Indian party stealing horses for the Mexican army, and end up 'owning' a young Indian girl (Irene Bedard), who has a brief affair with Holland, before being sent back to her tribe.

The brother of the murdered boss relentlessly trails the pair, until they are 'rescued' by Houston's men. In the camp, they meet General Houston, portrayed with quiet authority by Tom Skerritt, and Jim Bowie (a miscast but likable Peter Coyote). Bowie and Allison are old hell-raising friends, and, in one of the film's more light-hearted scenes, recount a few of the more famous tales of the inventor of the famous knife! Bowie is leaving for the Alamo, but asks the pair to remain with Houston, as the Texas army trains for battle.

With the fall of the Alamo eminent, Allison and Holland decide to join their friend Bowie, but arrive too late; the mission is a scene of carnage, with hundreds of bodies scattered among the ruins. Watching Texans' bodies being unceremoniously burned, they encounter Susannah Dickinson (Karey Green), wife of one of the defenders, who tells of the final assault, and the death of Davy Crockett. She carries a letter for Sam Houston from General Santa Anna, and after taking the men to the body of Jim Bowie (a sadly moving scene, as Allison retrieves Bowie's knife), the trio return to Houston's forces...and the two men begin a journey towards their destiny!

The story is not without historical flaws, particularly concerning Mrs. Dickinson, but the film never loses momentum, and benefits from Kristofferson's craggy charm, as the plain-spoken Allison. This is the kind of role he does best, and he plays it to the hilt!

'Two for Texas' is a welcome addition to the select group of films about the Alamo, and Texas' struggle for independence!

While "Two for Texas" is more "outdoorsy" and more "1830's" than the usual TV movie, it still suffers from that form's limitations. It seems a bit tame and tepid and lacks the sweep and energy needed to elevate it above the routine. However, most aspects of the production are competently done and a couple are excuses are found to have Scott Bairstow bare his chest so there are some visual rewards to be found along the way.

The pacing of this thing is pretty languid, but by-and-large, it's an entertaining history lesson. The action -- particularly the final battle scene -- is a pleasant surprise.

CONS: A few shenanigans with the historical facts, but nothing too glaring. Some suspicious time compression at the Alamo. (And Bowie's knife wasn't looted? Hmm...) Oh, and I think Tom Skerrit, although talented, was a questionable choice for the mythic (and 6'6") Sam Houston.

PROS: The rest of the cast -- the two principals were thoroughly believable. ACTUAL Texas shooting locales. Practical ("real") SFX: when a cannonball takes out a tree, it's a real tree taken apart by real explosives. And best of all, Irene Bedard in her physical prime.

This film begins in 1836 where two convicts by the names of "Hugh Allison" (Kris Kristofferson) and "Son Holland" (Scott Bairstow) are forced to work on a chain gang in the Louisiana swamps. To add to their misery the prison is run by two French brothers named "Alcide Landry" (Tom Schuster) and "Emile Landry" (Victor Rivers) who are extremely sadistic and have made life especially difficult for Son Holland who constantly questions their authority. As luck would have it, an accident occurs one day which allows both Hugh and Son to escape but in doing so Hugh kills Alcide Landry which results in Emile organizing a manhunt to exact his revenge. So with no other alternative both Hugh and Son head out to join "Sam Houston" (Tom Skerritt) in Texas to fight for independence against "Santa Anna" (Marco Rodriguez) and his Mexican army. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, while this was an entertaining movie for the most part, it totally lacked historical accuracy. For starters, although "Jim Bowie" (played by Peter Coyote) did in fact fight and die in the Alamo, his body was burned immediately after the battle. In addition to that, "Susannah Dickinson" (Karey Green) was magnanimously given safe transport by General Santa Anna and not left to fend for herself as depicted here. As far as the characters in the film were concerned, while I typically like the acting of Tom Skerritt, I have to admit that this was not one of his better performances. Be that as it may, in spite of these flaws the movie was sufficient for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

To the average viewer, Two for Texas is an entertaining movie, but for those who know Texas history, it is a disappointing attempt at a docudrama. It does not accurately depict the facts and events of the Texas Revolution (aka, Texas War of Independence). Several of the historical events have been either modified or depicted out of sequence in an effort to enhance the story, but instead, leave one with a false impression of how things actually transpired. It was disturbing to me to watch this flagrantly flawed film that could have depicted events more accurately had the writers, producers, and directors cared enough to produce an accurate accounting of historical events.