Angel and the Bad Man

Whoever decided to remake this movie, should be taken out behind the woodshed. Not for remaking it, but for doing such an awful job. Casting Lou Diamond Phillips as Quirt Evans was the first mistake. He does a good bad guy, but is totally unconvincing as the love interest of a Quaker woman. And Deborah Kara Unger isn't much better as Temperance, she just doesn't come across well as a Quaker woman. There is just no believable spark or magnetism between the two.

You simply don't remake a John Wayne classic without putting the right actors in the right places. And in my mind, you just don't remake a John Wayne classic, period. The True Grit remake is an exception, it was well-cast and well done in every aspect. This movie just wasn't convincing. And for a color movie, it has too much of that modern mistake of trying to evoke some Hollywood-imagined atmosphere with toned-down colors. I suppose that is intended to focus us more on the characters, but all it did was focus us on the fact that the casting and acting was bad. I wouldn't recommend this sad excuse for a remake to anyone. And I am unbelievably puzzled by anyone who gives it a good review, I guess it doesn't take much to please people these days.

Finally, a western in which they admit the indoor spaces were small and cold! I have often thought to myself that westerns invariably fail to depict what living in the "old west" may have been like without central heating. Also, other than Lou Diamond Phillips himself, they have never seen a barber. Although the clothes ad persons are far too clean.

Production values are sufficient as is the acting and script to make watching the whole movie possible.

Naturally, those who have practically deified John Wayne will not look with favor on any remake of his films, but this handsome color version has much more authentic period flavor than the original one of simple Hollywood hokum. Since I was never a great fan of Wayne's and was only favorably impressed by one performance of his (as the outright racist and sadistic bastard in "The Searchers") I can judge this film on its own merits without referring to Wayne's earlier version.

Phillips is convincing in the role of the hard-bitten gunny who unwillingly reforms when his head is turned by the esteem of a good woman. It gradually develops that his heart is eventually turned, too. Now that he has matured he actually achieves more gravitas than in some of his better known younger roles. The supporting roles are well-drawn, especially (Sam) Winston Reckert and the nasty one-eyed piece of work (Laredo) aptly played by an almost unrecognizable Luke Perry.

Anyone who is expecting a word for word remake of the John Wayne classic Angel And The Badman will not be disappointed. With one glaring exception this Hallmark Channel remake sticks very close to the original story of a gunfighter reformed by a Quaker woman's love.

The exception is that instead of an innocent young unmarried girl as Gail Russell played in the original, Deborah Kara Unger is a widow with a young boy to raise which she is doing with her parents. She's a good woman, but even good women have their needs and when Lou Diamond Phillips as Quirt Evans literally lands on her doorstep, wounded after a gun battle, he gets her mojo going good and proper.

Wisely Lou did not opt for an imitation of John Wayne in his interpretation of the gunfighter. If he had he would have been laughed off the small screen. He's still one deadly individual and this screenplay make it clear just why Quirt Evans and Laredo Stevens as played by Luke Perry are fated to tangle.

The role of the marshal that Harry Carey played in the original is cut down somewhat, though Winston Rekert is effective in the scenes he does have. I liked the Carey character though, wish there had been more of the marshal in this one. The Wayne family put their imprimatur on this remake with the casting of the Duke's grandson Brendan Wayne as Randy McCall the sidekick to Phillips and played in the original film by Lee Dixon.

Probably important the Wayne family did that because the Duke's The Angel And The Badman was the very first film in which he not only worked on the production end, but also directed himself. Of the films John Wayne directed, that was far and away his best effort. So you can imagine the family had a big personal interest at stake.

I think even the hardest and most loyal of the Duke's legion of fans will not be disappointed with this version of The Angel And The Badman.

Nobody does it better. I repeat, NOBODY, does it better than The Duke. Don't bother watching this until you can see it for free. John Wayne is The Ultimate Cowboy! Nobody does it better! Nobody ever did it better! Nobody ever will do it better! To try and copy him is a fools errand.

If you wanna watch LaBamba, Lou Diamond Phillips is the perfect choice. If you wanna see teenage cowpunks go bad and shoot up town after town, he can get the job done. If you wanna see teenage punks screw up in high school and make the teacher look like an idiot, he's pretty good at that, too.

Remake a John Wayne film?!?!? NO WAY!