Monte Walsh (2003)

Monte Walsh

Obligation fulfilled!  As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I promised my mother I would review the trio of Westerns Tom Selleck made for TNT in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  The result was a bit mixed.  Last Stand at Saber River really wasn't that great, though it certainly had its moments, while Crossfire Trail was much better, though still not a classic.  But what these Westerns revealed to me was that the genre is not dead.  The films were well-reviewed and performed quite well in the ratings, and proved that if you put some work into it, people still love a good ol' fashioned Western, especially if you put someone like Tom Selleck in the saddle.

And now we have the third and final film in the trio: Monte Walsh.  Monte Walsh is a cowboy at the turn of the century, but times are changing.  Civilization is coming to the Wild West.  Railroads are now the primary method of traveling.  More and more of the open range is being fenced in by corporations every year.  It is clear that the age of the cowboy is ending.  Will Monte Walsh be able to change with the times, or just end up as a dinosaur in a world of automobiles and Wild West Circuses?

At first, I was a bit disappointed by this movie because not much happens and it is depressing.  Maybe too bleak.  But as I settled into it, I realized this was unlike any other Western I've seen.  This isn't about everything you would expect a Western to be about.  This isn't even about 'progress' and 'civilization,' which we've seen in dozens of Westerns.  Monte Walsh is about how 'progress' affects those who lived and thrived in the earlier world.  Cowboys don't know how to do anything except cowboy.  But given that times are a'changing, there is no work.  A few of the best like Monte find work on a ranch, but most of these former giants of the range are reduced to wandering the horizon, endlessly looking for any sort of job.  This is a bleak, bleak movie and really shows what people can be reduced to in tough economic times, whether it is in the 1890s or today.  And as the film finished, I had to tip my hat to a production well done and to a point well made about the passing of an age, and all the coolness we lost when those days ended.

Monte Walsh is well directed by Simon Wincer, who also directed Crossfire Trail, as well as the classic TV miniseries Lonesome Dove.  His skilled hand at Westerns is clear, giving the movie a cinematic quality.  The cast is superb, with Tom Selleck ably supported by pros like Isabella Rosselini (Blue Velvet), Keith Carradine (Last Stand at Saber River), George Eads (CSI), William Devane (Payback), John Michael Higgins (Best in Show), as well as a great cast of character actors who put in great work.

The film isn't perfect.  I was a fan of George Eads' Shorty character, for example, but don't really like the way his storyline plays out. I understand why it happens, but I feel it all happens much too quickly to be believable.  You'll know what I mean when you see it.  I don't want to spoil anything.

But other than that, I found myself watching a minor classic.  I think Selleck should get back on the horse before he gets too old and make a few more of these.  He's one of the last actors we have who can convincingly be a real cowboy.

BEST LINE: 
Monte Walsh to a horse he is about to try and break in: "When we get through, all you're gonna want to do is take a nap, sit on the porch, and wait for all the mares to come calling."

MVP:
The MVP award goes to Isabella Rosselini, who plays Martine, a European stuck in the rundown Western town and Monte's true love.  Martine really is not a deep character on paper.  She basically just sits around, waiting for Monte to show up and then graciously understands when he leaves, which is kind of lame.  But something about Rosselini's performance brings true dimensionality to her.  She's not just a cardboard cutout, a stereotypical "suffering wife" of Hollywood who is accepting of her man's oddities because that is what the script demands.  Rosselini's Martine is an understanding woman because she knows she has no choice.  Monte is going to go wandering off to Canada no matter what.  But she is stuck in this dreary world, in which Monte is the only bright spot.  It's no wonder she lights up whenever he shows up.  But the pain of that decision is clear in her eyes.  It is subtle and beautiful work.  Add to this the fact that Rosselini's natural charisma and sensuality makes her more alive and sexy at 61 than most of the plastic babes half her age in movies today, and you have a clear MVP winner.  Go Isabella Rosselini!

TRIVIA:
Based on a book by Jack Schaffer, the guy who wrote the classic book, Shane.  (P.S. I review the movie of Shane right here.)