Red Headed Stranger

Based on the album by the same title, Willie Nelson stars as a preacher who goes by the name of "Julian Shay" who has recently married and subsequently sent out west to the small town of Driscoll, Montana. Unfortunately, when they get to their destination both he and his bride, "Raysha" (Morgan Fairchild) soon realize that their new hometown is extremely cold and inhospitable. This prompts Julian to roll up his sleeves and get to work. Raysha, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with it and leaves at the first opportunity. This is when the trouble really begins. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a strange but interesting movie primarily due to the acting of R. G. Armstrong (as "Sheriff Reese Scoby"), Royal Dano ("Larn Claver"), the aforementioned Willie Nelson and the presence of two beautiful actresses like Katherine Ross ("Laurie") and Morgan Fairchild. On the flip side, the story itself could have used a bit more substance and character development which might have helped it to seem less raw and to flow more smoothly from one scene to the next. In any case, it was still entertaining for the most part and I rate it as slightly above average.

I really enjoyed Red Headed Stranger, which is a great movie project for Willie Nelson. The film has some similarities to Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider. Obviously, both films have preacher characters that stand up for justice (and deliver, Old Testament style). Willie Nelson's Shay shows more vulnerability and is not as hard ( invincible) as Clint. Well, nobody did westerns quite like Clint. The film here is pretty solid and showed how violent and corrupt the untamed land could be. The movie looks great and is paced well with a mix of Willie Nelson's music to go alongside the story. Western icon RG Armstrong gives one of his best performances as Sheriff Scoby. Morgan Fairchild is some serious eye candy as The Preacher's ill fated wife. Everything here was done well in my opinion and I really enjoyed watching this.

It must have been an absolute delight for Willie Nelson to be in a position to turn his classic Red Headed Stranger album into a movie. The greatest country album of all-time serves as the soundtrack and, like the record, the film moves at a steady pace through a story saturated with heartache, revenge and redemption. Nelson's acting has certainly improved since his earlier efforts, while the still-beautiful Katharine Ross turns in a charming performance. The production values are a little lacking, but the story more than makes up for it. Add a half-star to the rating.

This independent western has generally been dismissed by critics. It certainly has some big faults - some terrible direction (some key scenes are shot *at a distance*), and yes, Morgan Fairchild is indeed awful in her role.

I would say that one of the biggest faults of the movie, however, is with its pacing - this is a *very* slow-moving movie, and with a total running time of about 110 minutes, this slowness becomes even more deadly. The other big fault I had with the movie is that we never know what's going on in the head of Willie Nelson's character. His preacher character doesn't have that much dialogue, and what he says doesn't really give us that much insight into him. The explanations to the big decisions the character therefore decides upon remain a mystery.

Nelson isn't a great actor, but he manages to be watchable here by keeping his performance low-key. And even though the movie has its deadly slow pace and all those other problems, I did find it watchable - though in the sense of something being watchable during a boring weekend. Plus, there is occasionally some good stuff to see. For instance, the production values are dead on - all the weathered and rickety buildings look like they were indeed built in the middle of nowhere over a century ago. The cinematography is pleasing as well.

Verdict: Will do the job... but only for those who love westerns, have a high patience level, and have nothing else to do.

I was surprised this was released in 1986 as watching it the film felt much more like a western from the early 70's in both tone and filming style. I don't know if this was planned or due to the limited budget but either way it perhaps helps and gives the film some more charm.

It opens, and indeed the first hour, is very mild mannered and quite a family friendly western story... I won't go beyond that but I did find the change of pace and tone jarring initially. However by the end of the film it all actually all works well.

There is a great performance by R. G. Armstrong given more room to act here than his normal roles often gave him. Other than perhaps Barbarosa, I've never been 100% convinced by Willie as an actor, that said his charm shines through every scene and he's always very watchable.

I very much enjoyed this film, it is flawed and a tiny bit dated, watching it you do wonder quite how the marriage at the beginning of the film ever came to be. But while the pace is perhaps leisurely as it opens the story does keep moving and there are a lot of great original scenes and great performances. And there is the music too of course.