Blind Justice

This movie was really very good. I like westerns as a rule but don't generally like newer ones. I bought this one because I really like Armand Assante. He didn't let me down in this movie. And neither did the movie. It's very different than any other western I've seen yet. They are some gross scenes and some very good action scenes. I liked that alot. I don't like wimpy westerns. Over all a very surprisingly good movie with a great cast including Elisabeth Shue and a small role by Jack Black. If you like westerns this is a good one to get.

This movie has a dark atmosphere, which attracted me in the beginning. There are some flashbacks that I feel slow the thing down too much, but otherwise the story is quite solid. I had not expected this movie, and was pleasantly surprised.

The movie itself is not that great... it's an unimaginatively-conceived western that is not much more gritty or believable than an episode of "Gunsmoke". The premise is terrific, hearkening back to the plots of old Italian spaghetti westerns... a blind gunfighter carrying a newborn baby comes to a small town overrun by bad men and proceeds to shoot out with every bad guy within range. What makes this movie memorable for me, though, is a GREAT performance by Armand Assante as the blind Canaan. He transcends every other acting job in the movie... no one else seems either authentic or interesting. Assante, however, has done his homework and seems like he wouldn't be out of place at all in an old "Django" movie. Elisabeth Shue is pretty but totally unconvincing as a frontier femme who comes to the aid of Assante and the young baby girl. Every one else is a typical western cartoon... stuffy army officers, nasty bandits with thick accents, etc. (Jack Black appears at one point as an army sentry... which is a little more disconcerting now that he is famous for his more comedic roles.) Fortunately, whenever Assante is on screen he makes the movie work... even some of the ridiculous one-liners. "How do you like your eggs? Scrambled?" (said while clutching a bad guy's genitals).

I fell in love with this movie when I saw it for the first time on HBO the year it first came out. Now, being that I am something of an old west buff, I was interested to see how a movie about a blind gunfighter would work. I was not disappointed. The premise is unique. Armand Assante brought a depth to the role that gave it paths. You could relate to the character of Canaan and sympathize with him. Robert Davi borough his usual menace as Alacran, the leader of the bandits. Elizabeth Shue was alright, but could have been more developed, though she does play the lass in distress well. M.C. Gainly, who was also in the HBO movie "El Diablo" as a demolitions expert, was also in this movie, though he did not have all that many lines or scenes, was also quite bad as Alacran's hit man, but in a good, bad guy, kinda way. Jack Black has a cameo as a army sentry, which was rather funny, if a bit short. The chap who played the Bartender Ernie Fowler was cool, as was the Native American fellow who played a bomb obsessed shaman.

There is also a fellow in this movie who will later appear in the HBO series Deadwood. The other characters, while cool and well acted, were not that developed and felt alittle wooden. The script needed some fine tuning, such as making the characters less wooded, but it was other wise alright. The score, which was done by Richard Gibbs of Queen of the Damned fame, was very fitting indeed. I wish a soundtrack would be put out for this movie. I have liked everything I have seen Armand Assante in and this is yet another example of why. Much props for HBO for making this movie and I hope they revisit the characters again soon.

Canaan (Armand Assante) is a mysterious gunfighter blinded during the Civil War. He's carrying a baby to a waiting adopted family. He runs into a gang led by Alacran (Robert Davi). He enters a border town with only one road out and cut off by the bandits. They are after a shipment of silver being transported by Sgt. Hastings (Adam Baldwin) and his men. Town leader Caroline (Elisabeth Shue) recruits the blind man to join in the fight for 200 lbs of silver.

This should be a fun campy spaghetti western. A blind gunfighter screams cheese. This movie has no style. Armand Assante is a great actor and he does his job here. Elisabeth Shue is not hard enough to be the town leader. She is a damsel in distress and a romantic partner thrown at Assante. This could be great but it is mostly boring.