Roman noir : Les Mystères de l'Ouest

7/10 - one of the more predictable Mystery Woman mysteries, but still good fun

This time the mystery woman and her coterie of allies, in particular former CIA hacker and now business colleague Philby (Clarence Williams III) and Cassie (Nina Siemaszko), her best friend who just happens to be a lawyer, investigate the murder of a stuntman in a wild west show who was doubling for the hero Clint (as in Clint Eastwood) played by Bruce Boxleitner. Since the show centers around the not so happy troupe of cowboys and one cowgirl, Annie (as in Annie Oakley), the change of venue adds an atmosphere of novelty to a series that was becoming somewhat stale.

The rugged wild west show cast adds a note of believability to the mystery. Solving the murder becomes more complicated as the investigative team discovers that the hero Clint was having financial problems that involved internet gambling, bad investments, and an ex that he stole from another of the cowboys, Strother (Wings Hauser). Suspicion falls on Clint because he had previously faked an accident by having his stirrup strap slashed so he would fall in front of the spectators, enabling him to get free publicity.

While the plot is tried and true going back to at least the Gene Autry oater "Home in Wyomin'" (1942) where the reverse happens and someone in a wild west show shoots one of the fans in the stands, watching the mystery woman team work is a pleasure if you don't take it all too seriously. The acting is top notch. It's good to see Clarence Williams III of "Mod Squad" fame on the tube once more. His part is a delight and the writers usually give him some good lines.

As the old banjo player Floyd Holland used to say just before he performed, "If you don't expect much, you won't be disappointed."

Typically for her, Samantha Kinsey is the chair of the committee organising a wild west show in town featuring some stars from the big and small screen westerns. It is all going well but when a stunt goes wrong, former TV star Clint Taylor is badly hurt. An accident it is assumed but Philby finds that Clint's saddle was deliberately cut, suggesting a deliberate mistake at best, attempted murder at worst. A bit of investigation reveals that Clint had intended to take a fall all along to drum up media interest in him again and Sam is affronted by the cheek. However at the next show Clint falls again – but this time it was his stand-in and the fall is real, because he has been shot. The mystery is set and Sam starts her own investigation while Chief Connors goes down a more formal route.

I first watched the Mystery Woman series and found it to be a bit like cheap toilet paper – it isn't anything special but it does what I need it to do and it never pretends to be doing anything other than the basics. However with the last few films I had found the weaknesses were becoming more overwhelming while its value was diminishing as it just churned out the same old ideas and style again and again. With this entry things are a little better than the last few films because it does feel a bit fresher because of the setting. Of course a lick of paint can only do so much and typically the weaknesses are still there. The delivery is so very "safe" with a basic mystery, obvious dialogue, cardboard cut-out characters, annoying incidental music and so on. It is very daytime television but those watching it will probably have forgiven it for that.

The cast deliver the usual collection of characters. Martin continues to be as bland as normal and doesn't seem to have any interest in making her character more than a young version of Jessica Fletcher. Siemaszko is unconvincing as usual and Martin and her have no chemistry. Williams sleepwalks his way through a half-baked character while Sander is as dry and humourless as always. The guest cast features reasonable turns from Boxleitner, Dierkop, Stevens, Niven and others.

A reasonable entry in a series of films where that should be considered to be the standard to be hoped for. All the usual weaknesses are present but, unlike some other MW films I had seen, the cowboy gimmick works well to make a typical mystery feel a bit fresher and livelier than it really is.

I tune into these, at the moment, currently because watching the impeachment hearings is just NOT an option or even a choice! Thank goodness for Hallmark! But I just love Clarence Williams III! He doesn't do much but he doesn't need to. He's just cool. And when he starts laughing, it's golden! But since MOD SQUAD was part of my life, it's heartbreaking that less than a year ago, Peggy Lipton passed away. I do like Kelly Martin too, though. But all of these Hallmark stories, whether they are the romantic ones or the mysteries, are easy to watch and just have on in the background. And I would imagine Bruce Boxlietner needed the work. Also, I read the mystery stories. Sick to death of the annoying love stories. So in the words of Phoebe Buffet AFTER someone said, this is the one where there's some kind of misunderstanding. Phoebe picks up the remote, says, "Then I've seen this one!" And she shuts the TV off. 😆😆

Kellie Martin and Clarence Williams, III are leaving the mystery book shop for a visiting wild west show starring former TV western star Bruce Boxleitner. Boxleitner is trying to revive his former career and is hoping this traveling show will renew interest in him and secure a movie deal.

But Boxleitner has made a lot of enemies basically by being an egotistical jerk. Even the crew around him in the wild west show have a lot of resents.

When his stand in is shot off the horse during a show sequence it's immediately assumed someone was looking to get Boxleitner. But Martin and Williams know there's a lot more to this.

Look for a nice performance by Barbara Niven as a former western star once involved with Boxleitner. The relationship seems to be based on Gail Davis and Gene Autry. And another funny bit performance from Barry Livingston as one thorough postal inspector. Generations back he was Ernie on My Three Sons.

Why did Kellie Martin give up this series?