Angel and the Bad Man

This is a remake of the classic 1947 John Wayne western about an injured gunslinger who falls in with good company in the form of some Quakers. Full of comedy and broad performances, the original includes some classic bits and a grand performance by Harry Carey Sr. at the end of his career. The people at Hallmark must have been hesitant to greenlight this production, but they manage to produce a pretty good movie as a result and on its own terms.

As with all good remakes, it takes the same material and spins it in a different direction. and the more serious tone of this version does work for the first half, when the contrast between Quirt's life and character is spoken about -- it's handled humorously in the original. Instead, the humor in this version is reserved for the section where Lou Phillips, as Quirt Evans, tries going back to his old life. The attempt to play comedy as Phillips grows more dissatisfied and disgusted with his fellow associates does not, alas, quite work.

It does remain a good character study, and among the supporting cast, a special note should be taken of Winston Rekert who plays the Harry Carey role -- a sheriff who had hoped to hang Quirt with a new rope. His is the toughest act to follow, and he manages it very nicely.

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.

I concur with with bkoganbing "The Wayne Family Seal Of Approval". Imitation is often the sincerest form of flattery.

Anyone who is a fan of John Wayne and expecting a better version than his will be disappointed. But, if you are a fan of the Western Genre and of Lou Diamond Phillips, then you will be satisfied with this remake.

Lou Diamond Phillips and Luke Perry do a good job with their parts. Additionally, while Deborah Kara Unger is not as attractive as Gail Russell in the original, she does fit the part of a Quaker more so. She does a decent job in her role.

The standouts of this film are Lou Diamond Phillips, Winston Rekert (The Marshal), and Don Thompson as The Doc. Most of the supporting players are mediocre, but there are a few standouts, particularly, Gary Chalk as Steve Carson and Brendan Wayne as Randy. The other interesting part of this movie is the well done and fitting song sung (presumably) by Jennifer Copping (Maggie).

The sets and the scenery also looked very good.

I'd also recommend the remake of Red River with Bruce Boxleitner. A practical shot-for-shot remake of Wayne's original. Red River is one of my top ten favorites of Wayne's and I enjoyed this TV Remake.

Having seen both movies I would take this movie as the better one. True, John Wayne is a great actor as I am a fan,but the difference between the two movies is taking out "the Horseshit and Gun-smoke". This movie have more feelings in it. The moral of the story is what it was all about. There were many changes in this movie that made it different than the original..Lou Diamond Phillips did a great job and Deborah Kara Unger did a better job as "Temperance". T I don not agree with the critics given this movie anything below 6 stars, as a matter of fact I would give it a 9 or maybe even a 10. It was a movie that is rarely seen nowadays without all the sex,profanity. The rating is PG-13. If thay had the rating in 1947 it would have been rated "R".

Not only is this a bust, a grandchild of the great Duke Wayne plays the sidekick Randy in the film. By no means is this an endorsement by the Wayne family. If it was you'd be seeing an actual verbal or written endorsement by the licensing agent for John Wayne. And if you think this one is bad, wait until you see the remake of True Grit which is supposed to be in the works. It's almost like the Hollywood writers were all replaced with remake happy zombies.

All you see these days are sequels or bad remakes of past classics. As the other commenter forgot to say it is already free to watch since it was a straight to TV release, that's how bad it was. Not even worthy of the big screen. I have to say this is the worse the Hallmark Channel has ever done.

No one, and I repeat no one, can do a John Wayne movie other than John Wayne. I'll make a suggestion to anyone who thinks they can do a remake of any film done by Duke Wayne. Forget it... you'll lose your shirt. This is not even worth a $.99 download release.