I Talk Texas Rangers... Again

I am finally caught up here with what I've posted on Letterboxd a few weeks ago: a movie from 2001 that most have forgotten about.

Would YOU expect anything better from a Western starring Ashton Kutcher and James Van Der Beek?

This is a movie I've watched before (for a specific reason) but never in HD; when I saw it was on Allison M.'s least favorite network-The Outdoor Channel, where seemingly most of their programming is devoted to hunting shows-last night I decided to check this out. Young Guns this ain't... it isn't even Young Guns 2. I mean, it's more serious than that, which is kind of odd given that they wanted to have “a cool youth Western” as again, the leads are Kelso and Dawson.

This movie has been in gestation for so long that Peckinpah was rumored to be a director; eventually, none other than John Milius was going to write AND direct this and it almost happened... only for it to not because a studio did not want it to feature TOMMY LEE JONES... good move right there. Instead, the Weinsteins acquired this and it ended up being a Steve Miner joint w/ everything being totally average, from the story to the storytelling, the action, direction, music and all the rest. Not even the presence of veteran actors like Tom Skerritt, Dylan McDermott, Alfred Molina and Robert Patrick do much to make this rise above mediocrity. Of course, it's Miramax so this sat on the shelf for two years before being dumped in cinemas and making no money, which is unfortunate as this wasn't that bad... typical Miramax, I say.

Don't be fooled by the credits... while to me Rachael Leigh Cook is above average, her role here is small, only appearing in a few scenes and seemingly all she did was try and make the two lead guys not have such a homoerotic relationship, which didn't quite work as it was still rather homoerotic. I believe the movie was also edited to be shorter before it finally was released and maybe she had more to do before. There have been times in the past where I've felt bad for her; this movie isn't one of those as she's been in far worse. Rather, I feel bad because earlier in the summer she and her longtime husband Daniel Gillies separated and I presume a divorce is inevitable. A shame, as they have two young kids, which is why she has not acted all that often in recent years. I know someone would say, “Oh, but you have a shot now!” Well, the one time I actually met her-July of last year at a con-anxiety reared its ugly head and I acted like a buffoon, so it's not like I'm ever going to woo her!

Anyhow... maybe one day Hollywood will make another “youth Western” and hopefully it's at least better than this motion picture.