Comanche Moon (2008)

Steve Zahn plays Gus McCrae and Karl Urban is Woodrow Call in this mini-series following the exploits of author Larry McMurtry’s famous Texas Rangers from the late 1850s to the period just after the Civil War.

During that time, they ride off with their leader Inish Scull in search of a horse thief named Kicking Horse, are sent to rescue Scull when he’s held captive by a Mexican bandit, set out on the trail of a vicious Comanche named Blue Duck and wind up being introduced to a wanna-be town called Lonesome Dove.

Some of those missions are successful, some aren’t. And along the way, they lose some of their comrades, like Bill Coleman, who hangs himself because five Comanche had their way with his now-ruined wife during a raid on Austin.

Of course, our heroes find a little time for romance. McCrae is head over heels for a pretty shopkeeper’s daughter named Clara, but has to vie for her affections with a horse trader named Bob Allen. In between, he finds comfort in the bed of Scull’s promiscuous wife when he thinks he’s lost Clara.

Call is less direct in his affections for a pretty whore named Maggie, who insists the baby she’s carrying is his. The other Rangers press him to marry and give the boy a father. Call resists, but also doesn’t like it when a younger Ranger named Jake Spoon tries to take his place in the boy’s life and Maggie’s.

In the end, both men wind up losing the women they love. And with the Ranger days coming to an end, they decide that half-town near the Rio Grande might be a nice place for a fresh start.

Steve Zahn as Gus McCrae, eager for a reunion with Clara Forsythe in Comanche Moon (2008)

Karl Urban as Woodrow F. Call, wondering about Maggie when he hears a baby crying in Comanche Moon (2008)

Review:

Zahn turns in a fine performance in the role made famous by Robert Duvall and Urban does a decent enough job in the role of the more quiet Woodrow Call. And the film succeeds in filling us in on the background of the characters we met in the classic 1989 mini-series Lonesome Dove.

But after a highly-entertaining first part and a well-filmed raid on Austin to open the second, this mini-series falls apart thanks to a rambling and meandering plotline that … leads us pretty much nowhere.

Oh, an extended portion of the film is devoted to the story of Scull’s capture and eventual rescue. In chasing the man who stole his war horse, he stumbles into being made prisoner by a Mexican bandit named Ahmado.

First, Ahmado has him penned in a cage that hangs off a canyon cliff. When Scull adapts to that peril, he’s thrown into a flea- and snake-infested pit.

Don’t worry, a mystical parrot and jaguar show up to help save the day – I kid you not – while, back home, Scull’s wife is busy bedding one Ranger after another. Scull eventually returns home, though he’s sometimes prone to hopping around like a flea and decides to devote his post-Civil War hero life to writing about fleas.

But, hey, the film looks lovely and is still better than most Westerns released after 2000.

Elizabeth Baks as Maggie, the whore who’s in love with Woodrow F. Call in Comanche Moon (2008)

Linda Cardellini as Clara Forsythe, reacting to news of the raid on Austin in Comanche Moon (2008)

Directed by:
Simon Wincer

Cast:
Steve Zahn … Gus McCrae
Karl Urban … Woodrow F. Call
Ryan Merriman … Jake Spoon
Val Kilmer … Inish Scull
Rachel Griffiths … Inez Scull
Elizabeth Banks … Maggie
Linda Cardellini … Clara Forsythe
Keith Robinson … Joshua Deets
Troy Baker … Pea Eye Parker
Arron Shiver … Stove Jones
Melanie Lyndsky … Pearl Coleman
Sal Lopez … Ahmado
Wes Studi … Buffalo Hump
Adam Beach … Blue Duck
David Midthunder … Famous Shoes
Steve Reevis … Worm
James Rebhorn … Gov. Elisha Pease
Josh Barry … Bob Allen

Runtime: 284 min.

Val Kilmer as Inish Scull, setting out alone to rescue a prized horse in Comanche Moon (2008)

Rachel Griffiths as Inez Scull, the unfaithful and playful wife of Capt. Inish Scull in Comanche Moon (2008)

Memorable lines:

Inish Scull, pointing to a Comanche camp: “These torturing fiends down there are the best and most capable opponents I’ve ever faced. And I mean to kill them to the last man. But when it’s done, my God I’ll miss them.”
McCrae: “You’ll miss them, sir?”
Scull: “I’m a fighting man, Mr. McCrae. And fighting men need other fighting men to fight.”

McCrae: “I wish Captain Scull would give up on Kicking Wolf. That way I could hightail it back to Austin and see Clara.”
Call: “I’d like to sneak into Buffalo Hump’s camp and kill him. That’s my thinkin’. We’ll have to fight him sooner or later anyway.”
McCrae: “Now, you see, that’s the difference between me and you, Woodrow. I mostly think about love. You mostly think about war.”

Melanie Lyndsky as Pearl Coleman, sharing the news of what happened during an Indian raid with her husband in Comanche Moon (2008)

Ray McKinnon as Bill Coleman, anxious to return to Austin to check on his pregnant wife in Comanche Moon (2008)

Clara’s mom: “If you think you can settle Gus McCrae down, Clara, you need to think again. Cause you won’t.”

Richard King, talking about how Lonesome Dove got its name: “Curious, what sticks and what doesn’t.”

Inez Scull, upon her husband’s return: “The fool. What’s he hopping for?”
Woodrow Call: “Sometimes he thinks he’s a flea, ma’am. It’s hard to explain.”

Ryan Merriman as Jake Spoon, willing to do the bidding of Inez Scull in Comanche Moon (2008)

Keith Robinson as Joshua Deets, the man trusted to get the Texas Rangers back to Austin in Comanche Moon (2008)

Scull to his wife: “Hello, my dear. On your back as usual, I see.”

McCrae to Jake, as he heads off to the gold mines: “Don’t take up with any hoodlums. We’d hate to have to hang you.”

Woodrow Call, to a local lawman: “I’ll tolerate no more rash talk of jurisdiction.”
Gus McCrae, holding a gun to the man’s nose: “We’re Texas Rangers. Sent by the governor himself. Our jurisdiction is wherever we happen to be. Understood?”

Wes Studi as Buffalo Hump, leader of the Comanche raid on the Austin, Texas area in Comanche Moon (2008)

Sal Lopez as Ahmado, the Mexican bandit who holds Inish Scull for ransom in Comanche Moon (2008)

Adam Beach as Blue Duck, the rebellious chief’s son who gets kicked out of the Comanche camp in Comanche Moon (2008)

Troy Baker as Pea Eye Parker, a young Texas Ranger reacting to a tragic discovery in Comanche Moon (2008)

David Midthunder as Famous Shoes, Inish Scull’s trusted Indian guide in Comanche Moon (2008)

James Redhorn as Gov. Elisha Pease, the man who sends the Rangers to rescue Inish Scull in Comanche Moon (2008)

Josh Barry as Ben Allen, the cattleman who offers Clara Forsythe a more settled future in Comanche Moon (2008)

Buck Taylor as Ben Lily, a buffalo hunter sharing news of the raid on Austin in Comanche Moon (2008)

Melanie Lyndsky as Pearl Coleman, pronouncing herself ruined to Maggie (Elizabeth Banks) after the Comanches leave Austin in Comanche Moon (2008)

Elizabeth Banks as Maggie, hiding during the Comanche attack on Austin in Comanche Moon (2008)

Val Kilmer as Inish Scull, trying to survive in a flea-infested pit in Comanche Moon (2008)

Steve Zahn as Gus McCrae, feeling jealous when he spots Clara going riding with someone else in Comanche Moon (2008)

Karl Urban as Woodrow F. Call, reunited with Maggie after the Comanche raid in Comanche Moon (2008)