David Arquette is Augustus McCrae and Jonny Lee Miller is Woodrow C. Call, partners, pals and young men who’ve just joined the Texas Rangers.
Their first mission is accompanying Maj. Chevallier (Brian Dennehy) on a road-mapping expedition from San Antonio to El Paso.
But it ends up poorly after an encounter with a Comanche warrior named Buffalo Hump (Eric Schweig). The major and two other Rangers wind up dead before the group limps back to Austin, Texas.
But McCrae and Call are soon on the march again, this time as part of the Great Texas to Sante Fe Expedition designed to claim Sante Fe and other portions of New Mexico as part of Texas.
This time, Cable Cobb (F. Murray Abraham) is in charge. But he underestimates the Indians, the Mexicans and the harsh land his expedition will be forced to travel through.
Faced with overwhelming odds, he winds up surrending his force. For the men who have survived the cold and the sparcity of water and food already, that means another long march as prisoners of the Mexican Army.
Whipped nearly to death for attacking Cobb after the surrender, Call is nursed back to health by a former whore named Matilda, who dreams of one day making it to California.
As for Gus, he simply dreams of making it back to Austin. He’s been smitten by a flirtaceous shopkeeper’s daughter named Clara and is convinced his heart will be broken forever if he doesn’t return before she marries someone else.
David Arquette as Augustus McCrae, spotting Clara for the first time in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Jonny Lee Miller as Woodrow F. Call, reflecting on lessons learned from two expeditions in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Review:
The first episode of this three-part mini-series is a six-star success, filled with memorable scenes and memorable characters.
Jonny Lee Miller and David Arquette do a splendid job as younger versions of the characters we got to know in Lonesome Dove, the former fun-loving and reckless, the latter more serious and duty-bound.
But they aren’t forced to carry the show. Not with Keith Carradine on hand as the yarn-spinning Bigfoot Wallace. Or Patricia Childress as the whore who threatens a couple of Rangers with a snapping turtle because they’re falling behind in paying for their pokes.
The action sequences are memorable too. Buffalo Hump chasing McCrae through the dark with a lance. A Comanche scalping a Ranger from horseback. Mattie marching through danger to rescue said Ranger.
But the real revelation is Jennifer Garner in the role of Clara. In just her fourth credited role, it’d be an understatement to say she lights up the screen every time she appears, relishing in the idea that she’s smitten Augustus McCrae.
Fortunately, those first 90 minutes get viewers invested in the characters. Because the rest of Dead Man’s Walk involves … well, way too much walking. With the expected hardships of hunger, thrist and harsh elements. Plus an occasional burst of violence.
Oh, and here’s a wild bit of trivia. Jon Voight played Woodrow Call in Return of Lonesome Dove (1993), the first Lonesome Dove sequel. Miller plays the role here. Voight is the father of Angelina Jolie. Miller married Angelina the same year this film was released. The marriage occurred before Angelina became a star; they were divorced three years later.
Keith Carradine as Bigfoot Wallace, spotting a Mexican army encampment in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Harry Dean Stanton as Shadrach, frowning on the scalp-hunting trade in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Directed by:
Yves Simoneau
Cast:
Jonny Lee Miller … Woodrow F. Call
David Arquette … Augustus McCrae
F. Murray Abraham … Caleb Cobb
Keith Carradine … Bigfoot Wallace
Eric Schweig … Buffalo Hump
Patricia Childress … Matilda Jane
Edward James Olmos … Capt. Salazar
Harry Dean Stanton … Shadrach
Ray McKinnon … Long Bill Coleman
Tim Blake Nelson … Johnny Carthage
Brad Greenquist … Kirker
Jonathan Joss … Kicking Wolf
Hugo Urrutia … San Sabe Jefe
Jared Rushton … Wesley Buttons
Gretchen Mol … Maggie
Jennifer Garner … Clara Forsythe
Joaquim de Almeida … Maj. Laroche
Brian Dennehy … Maj. Chevallier
Alastair Duncan … Capt. Billy Falconer
Haviland Morris … Lady Lucinda Carey
Akosua Busia … Emerelda
Runtime: 272 min.
Jennifer Garner as Clara Forsythe, the young shopkeeper’s daugther who smites Augustus in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Gretchen Mol as Maggie, the young whore who falls for Woodrow F. Call in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Memorable lines:
Augustus McCrae: “You ever see a sight like that Woodrow — a whore carrying a snappin’ turtle.”
Augustus McCrae: “A whore that won’t give credit deserves to get pecked by a snappin’ turtle.”
Bigfoot Wallace: “Well, this is merry. We’re running around like chickens, and Buffalo Hump’s cutting our heads off.”
Augustus McCrae: “They say there’s gold and silver piled everywhere in Sante Fe. They say there’s enough gold to fill up two churches.”
Woodrow Call: “Why would the Mexicans just want to give us two churches full of gold. Don’t sound like no Mexicans I’ve met.”
Augustus: “You are two darn contrary, Woodrow. I’ve never met a person that’s as apt to take the opposite view as you.”
Clara, upon meeting Augustus: “I can see you’re tall, but I don’t know if you’re useful.”
Patricia Childress as Matilda Jane, aka The Great Western, a whore traveling with the Rangers in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Tim Blake Nelson as Johnny Carthage and Ray McKinnon as Long Bill Coleman in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Clara, selling Woodrow linament: “Tell Mr. McCrae I consider it very careless of him to go falling off a bluff. When I smite a man, I expect more careful behavior.”
Col. Cobb: “I’m a seaman. I never expected to die in the middle of a desert.”
Bigfoot Wallace: “Life’s a peculiar business. Old Shad been shot at by some of the best marksmen in the West. Now there he lays, kilt by a blind man.”
Johnny Carthage: “Oh, God, Bill, I hope it don’t get cold again tonight. I don’t mind dyin’, if I could just do it warm.”
Lady Lucinda: “It’s interesting singing, isn’t it? I wonder what it means.”
Augustus McCrae: “Means death. It means they want our hair.”
Lady Lucinda: “They may want it, but they can’t have it.”
Woodrow Call, having been presented on of Lady Lucinda’s rings: “What’s this for?”
Lady Lucinda: “It’s to remind you to be wild, corporal. When wildness is required.”
Jonny Lee Miller as Woodrow F. Call and David Arquette as Augustus McCrae in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Brian Dennehy as Major Chevallier, leading a road mapping expedition in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
F. Murray Abraham as Caleb Cobb, leader of the Texas to Sante Fe expedition in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Alastair Duncan as Capt. Billy Falconer, Cobb’s second in command in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Edward James Olmos as Capt. Salazar, the Mexican commander who captures the U.S. party in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Joaquim de Almeida as Major Laroche, commander of the Mexican forces in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Eric Schweig as Buffalo Hump, leader of the Comanche war band in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Haviland Morris as Lady Lucinda Carey, the singing English woman held by the Mexicans in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Ray McKinnon as Long Bill Coleman, wary of another scrap with the Comanche in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Patricia Childress as Matilda Jane and Harry Dean Stanton as Shadrach, happy as a couple in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Jonny Lee Miller as Woodrow F. Call watches his partner come under a pretty girl’s spell in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
David Arquette as Augustus McCrae, listening to stories of Indian torture in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
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