Lonesome
Dove
“From
the writer and
producer of the
acclaimed Brokeback
Mountain comes a
great adventure story:
the multi award-
winning TV mini-series Lonesone Dove —
an updated, authentic
Western for a whole
new generation...”
RETIRED TEXAS RANGERS Augustus "Gus" McCrea (Robert Duvall)
and Woodrow F Call (Tommy Lee Jones) are living peacefully in the little Texan
border town of Lonesome Dove on the Rio Grande with 17-year-old Newt Dobbs (Rick
Schroder) — whose late mother Maggie was a prostitute and whose father
is probably Call — and former slave Joshua Deets (Danny Glover).
Peacefully, that is, until their old friend Jake Spoon (Robert Urich) turns
up. The charismatic Jake is a drinker and gambler, wanted for murder after accidentally
shooting the mayor of Fort Smith, Arkansas, the brother of Sheriff, July Johnson
(Chris Cooper).
Jake persuades Gus and Call to join him on a cattle drive to start a new life
and set up the first cattle ranch in Montana. The three-thousand-mile journey
is to take them through some of the most beautiful, but dangerous, country in
the land. This is not so much a western as an enjoyable rip-roaring tale of
action and adventure.
Call is enthusiastic and Gus has reservations, but he is reminded that a former
sweetheart, Clara Allen (Anjelica Huston) lives along the way. Gus has always
had a way with women — including prostitute Lorena Wood (Diane Lane), who
was abandoned by her lover in Lonesome Dove. Call is a straight-talking, hard-working
no-nonsense guy and he and Gus go south of the border to round up horses and
cattle to take with them on their journey to Montana.
Soon after they set off July Johnson (Chris Cooper), pressed by his overbearing
sister-in-law Peach, takes leave of his hard-hearted wife Elmira (Glenne Headly)
to try to track down Jake Spoon. His wife insists that he takes her son, Joe
(Adam Faraizl), with him and once they have gone she leaves, too, on a whisky
boat, in search of her former lover, Joe's father, Dee Boot (Michael Tylo).
The picturesque landscape is a stunning backdrop for this epic journey. The
former rangers and their misfit drovers face a number of dramatic challenges
that impede their progress to Montana — including outlaws and Indians;
most notably old enemy Blue Duck, the utterly ruthless son of a Comanche war
chief and his Mexican prisoner.
Directed by Simon Winger and with an evocative score by Basil Poledouris, Lonesome
Dove is based on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title,
and features a terrific all-star cast that includes Steve Buscemi as Luke, from
the whisky boat. There is even a brief appearance by McMurtry himself.
•
A
genuine masterpiece of its genre, this action-packed western classic won seven
Emmy awards and two Golden Globes. Now Lonesome Dove arrives on DVD,
courtesy of Acorn Media, in a new digitally remastered version released on April
14 (2008).
Cat No AV9650 | Running Time 357 mins approx | RRP £19.99 | Certificate 15.
Special Features — Interview with Larry McMurtry and Suzanne De
Passe (Executive Producer with William D Wittliff).
"… not so much a western as an enjoyable rip-roaring tale of action and adventure"
— MotorBar
“From
the writer and