Armand Assante plays Canaan, a dressed-all-in-black gunman blinded during the Civil War.
He is a man on a mission, intent on delivering an unnamed baby girl to her mother in the town of Los Potalas – if he can just figure out where that town is located. He’s trying to fulfill a wish to a man he fatally wounded.
His journey leads him to San Pedro, where the Mexican bandit Alacran (Robert Davi) has the town under siege. Holed up in the church is cavalry Sgt. Hastings (Adam Baldwin) and what remains of his command.
They have a silver shipment they’re trying to deliver. And it’s the silver that Alacran wants.
Canaan kills some of Alacran’s men – including his oldest son – when they try to block his entrance into town.
Once there, he meets a former Army nurse named Caroline (Elisabeth Shue), who helps him with the baby and his wounds.
And he negotiates with Sgt. Hastings – in return for a portion of the silver, he’ll help end the siege.
But that won’t be easy. The cavalry he’s trying to help doesn’t trust him.
Alacran, tired of waiting, has sent for reinforcements. And he’s desperate to find and punish the man who killed his son.
Armand Assante as Canaan in Blind Justice (1994)
Elisabeth Shue as Caroline in Blind Justice (1994)
Review:
The Spaghetti Western influences are obvious, but the film lacks the grit to be wholly successful. Cramming an implausible romantic subplot into the film doesn’t help. Exactly what is the prettiest girl in San Pedro supposed to see in our grimy blind anti-hero, who’s already killed the father of the baby she’s helping care for?
That aside, Assante handles himself well in the lead role, and Alacran makes for a fine villain. He crucifies many of his victims as a warning to others who might be tempted to cross him. He tries to crucify Canaan, too, before helps arrives from a somewhat unexpected source.
Jack Black fans can catch him in an early film role as a Union soldier assigned to guard Canaan for a short spell. And, of course, there’s the presence of Elisabeth Shue, who rose to stardom in 1987’s “Adventures in Babysitting” and would soon embark on one of her most celebrated roles, as a prostitute opposite Nicolas Cage in “Leaving Las Vegas”
Robert Davi as Alacran in Blind Justice (1994)
Adam Baldwin as Sgt. Hastings in Blind Justice (1994)
Directed by:
Richard Spence
Cast:
Armand Assante … Canaan
Elisabeth Shue … Caroline
Robert Davi … Alacran
Adam Baldwin … Sgt. Hastings
Ian McElhinney … Father Malone
Danny Nucci … Roberto
M.C. Gainey … Bull
Titus Welliver … Sumner
Jack Black … Private
Michael O’Neill … Spencer Heyman
Runtime: 85 min.
Jack Black as Union cavalry sentry in Blind Justice (1994)
Ian McElhinney as Father Malone in Blind Justice (1994)
Memorable lines:
Bandit, after a disgraced comrade has been pissed on: “Maybe he needs a chaser.”
Bandit leader: “No, maybe he needs something to eat.” At which point he pulls out a sawed-off shotgun and shoots him in the mouth.
Caroline: “Do you have any idea who those men are? Those men you killed?”
Canaan: “I can’t say I do. Didn’t really get a good look at ‘em.”
Alacran to one of his men: “Make sure to gouge out his eyes and bring them to me. We’re going to see who is blind.”
Canaan to a Union officer: “If anything happens to the people in that town, I’m gonna hunt you down and kill every breathing thing you ever loved.”
Alacran, to one of his men after Canaan escapes their trap: “I should kill you for letting him get past you, but I have a feeling I’m gonna need all my men … even a piece of shit like you. Cut off his ear.”
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