The Desperate Trail

"The Desperate Trail" is an R-rated straight-to-video Western from 1995 starring Sam Elliott as Marshal Bill Speakes; he wants to bring to the gallows his daughter-in-law, Sarah (Linda Fiorentino), who murdered his son but is blinded to her defense of spousal abuse. In her run from the law Sarah hooks up with a charming conman, Jack Cooper (Craig Sheffer).

***Mild SPOILERS follow*** (although I don't give away the ending)

POSITIVES:

• I liked the ominous "church bells" soundtrack. It's simple and unique but I didn't find it jarringly incongruous to the Western genre as some apparently did.

• The first act was the best, but the rest of the film was still pretty good. It's a solid Western with a lot of drive and Peckinpah-like gunfights.

• What I liked most was the thought-provoking elements of the story. One theme is the evil of spousal abuse. Not just in reference to what drove Sarah to this "desperate trail," but the guy she pistol-whips for giving his wife a black eye (the wife ultimately leaves him and even Marshal Speakes admits the man deserved it).

• Another theme is the corrupting power of the "Eli Syndrome." Eli was a legitimate chief priest in the Old Testament who spoiled his sons and allowed them to run amok, carnally speaking, in their temple service, which ultimately brought God's judgment and their deaths (1 Samuel 2 & 4). Just so, Bill Speakes was obviously a solid citizen, successful cattle rancher and marshal who spoiled his son. His kin-bias wouldn't allow him to see the other side of the story; it blinded him. Although he WAS a good man and in some ways even a great man this bias was his weakness and successfully corrupted him.

• Another theme is desperation. The film's called "The DESPERATE Trail" for a reason. Sarah was on her way to the gallows and would need the stagecoach money to make a successful escape to freedom. Women had few options outside of marriage or prostitution out West back then; how much more so if you're a wanted fugitive? She was desperate, pure and simple. The guy she pistol-whips deserved it. Sarah didn't try to steal money from the members of the stage so she wasn't a "stage robber" in the conventional sense nor did she rob stages throughout the rest of the film, i.e. for a living; it was a one-time thing. Although she does rob a store for needed supplies, but --again -- she was desperate.

As far as her being the heroine and Jack Cooper the hero, in the sense of Bonnie & Clyde, one of the points of the film is that there is no hero. Everyone's corrupt in one way or another, defiled by "the sins of the father," the father being Marshal Speakes. The exception is Jack, who's simply corrupted by his conman nature and desire to provide for his crippled brother, which is another example of kin-bias. Yet he clearly displays traits of love & loyalty, which Sarah is able to easily pick up on after her experiences with an abusive husband. So, although there are strong amoral aspects to the story, one gets the vibe that a certain person or people may move on to a positive and respectable future, once justice is served and they perhaps find the grace of another shot at life, which is a big IF.

NEGATIVES:

• Sam Elliott, the quintessential Westerner, is his usual laconic self, but he's not the main character, plus his role is atypical since he's not the customary easy-going, likable hero; here he's quiet and respectable until one sees his blind hatred and unwillingness to see anything less than nobility in his son, who he obviously spoiled. This isn't a negative to me; I'm only citing it for those who prefer to see Elliot as the noble star in Westerns.

• As the film progresses it becomes clearer that this is a straight-to-video Western. For instance, the film was shot in New Mexico with very fitting locations for a Western, but they seem minimalistic and bleak. Of course, this may have been the point since they're on "the desperate trail." Another example would be a couple cases of questionable dialogue/acting and the simple soundtrack. Again, I don't personally find this objectionable since I appreciate low-budget movies.

The runtime is 92 minutes.

FINAL WORD: "The Desperate Trail" is a solid Western with a lot of drive and action, plus it has thought-provoking themes that are fairly covert and left to the viewer to mine. Although the main characters appear amoral or immoral on the surface the story reveals why they're corrupt and desperate, besides themes of love & justice come into play. However, those who only prefer Elliott in the typical role of the easygoing Western hero should stay away.

GRADE: B

Linda Fiorentina develops from sexy seductress in The Last Seduction into a merciless killer in this effort, and it's a world away from Jessie the happy cowgirl from the Toy Story films. She'll blast your brains out without so much of a second glance, and she wears them Western clothes like she was born in the outfit. Partnering with a smart mouthed confidence trickster, she's on the run from the always excellent Sam Elliott, who plays a grizzled old sheriff. She committed the unpardonable sin of killing his son (Who she was married to, and he knocked seven bells out of her, hence the reason for her slaying him) so needless to say, this lawman is slightly more persistent in pursuing his target than most...

There are no signs of this being a straight to video effort, as the productions values are decent throughout. There are also some well staged and fast moving shootouts, but in terms of gore this ain't no The Wild Bunch, so the 18 certificate is a bit of a mystery. Like the film I last watched, The Kentuckian, this is hardly going to go down in history as one of the genre classics. But it'll pass 85 minutes, and you won't feel you've wasted your time. Which is good enough for me. 6/10

It's too bad that Sam Elliot was born about 30 years too late and was not on the scene in the 40s and 50s when westerns began to change to more adult themes. He was as born to the saddle as a Joel McCrea or a Gary Cooper was, Elliott would have been a superstar then.

Not that he's done too badly now as The Desperate Trail shows. It's just that westerns have limited release for a specialized audience now. When we meet Elliott he's a marshal escorting a handcuffed prisoner for a date with a hangman. His prisoner is Linda Fiorentino and a holdup interrupts the journey.

When all is said and done another passenger Craig Sheffer makes off with several grand in Wells Fargo money and Fiorentino is loose and Elliott in a most embarrassing position. Naturally the marshal rounds up a posse and pursues the outlaws.

But this is a western with modern and adult themes, more modern than was discussed even in those beginning days of adult westerns. Sam and Linda do have a relationship of sorts and Linda is a battered spouse. As the film progresses Elliott is shown not to be the upstanding marshal that he professes to be and what we expect in the usual type of westerns.

If you like action there are more than enough shooting incidents to satisfy your craving. Elliott, Fiorentino, and Sheffer give fine performances in the leads.

A western with some very modern themes.

This western starts out very well, then gets too Rambo-ish, meaning the bad guys can't hit the side of a barn with their shots. Despite that credibility problem, it's a pretty good film with excellent sound, nice cinematography, some interesting special-effects and sound with the gunshots and wounds and a different kind of soundtrack. I needed the TV Guardian with this because there is an excessive amount of Lord's name in vain in here.

Actually, this is a modern-day film noir put in a western setting. Edgy characters played by Sam Elliott (the ultimate cowboy face), Craig Sheffer, Linda Fiorentino (hard-nosed, as always), Bradford Whitford and Frank Whalley.

I guess this is supposed to be a feminist Western. While I liked Linda Fiorentino's performance, I also have to wonder what her husband did to her to justify so many murders, so much mayhem. I guess it just spiraled out of control and she did what she had to do to avoid being executed, but some characters were killed who didn't really seem to deserve it. Sam Elliot and Craig Sheffer did decent work, and even Bradley Whitford was OK overdoing a brogue. Like so many Westerns, everybody sure seemed to have an awfully lot of ammunition. The cigarettes and some of the weapons seemed a little bit anachronistic, but the time setting was never really explicit, so never mind. I can't really say see it, but I can't say avoid it either. It depends.

P.S. I don't know if this was a deliberate part of the realism of this film, but about the brief topless scene by Jill Scott Momaday. Her breasts are a bit sagging, noticeably real. I'm not putting down Ms. Momaday, as I prefer that to the more common huge mounds of silicone. Just thought it was interesting.