Desperate Trail (1994)

Craig Sheffer plays Jack Cooper, a gentleman outlaw whose thievery supports an ailing brother.

Linda Fiorentino is Sarah O’Rourke, a woman forced into a life of crime after killing an abusive husband.

And Sam Elliott is the snarling Marshal Bill Speakes. The man Sarah killed was his son, and he’ll stop at nothing to see her on the gallows.

After a fuss over $2,500 in stagecoach loot, Jack and Sarah put their initial mistrust aside and decide to become partners in crime. She wants a stake to start a cattle ranch somewhere out of the marshal’s reach. Jake is trying to finance a ranch too, the one where his brother lives.

But try as they might, they can’t shake the marshal and his posse off their trail.

And in the process of trying, they wind up falling for one another as they plot one final holdup.

They narrowly escape twice before heading back to the Cooper brothers ranch where younger brother Frank would rather gaze at stars than be bothered to fix the barn roof.

Linda Fiorentino a Sarah O’Rourke in Desperate Trail (1994)

Craig Sheffer as Jack Cooper in Desperate Trail (1994)

Review:

Brilliant opening and ending highlight one of the best TV Westerns in years. This film has tons of grit, more violence than you’ll typically see in a telefilm and a touch of charm in the relationship between Jack and Sarah.

The snow globe he buys her as a gift is a nice touch. So is the pocket watch he carries with a photo of him and his brother inside. It seems Jack was responsible for an accident that crippled his brother when they were both youngsters.

Elliott, typically the hero in his Westerns, is great here in the role of the unsympathetic marshal. And Frank Wahley turns in a fine performance as Jack’s sickly brother, who would rather search for stars and distant planets through his telescope than do chores around the ranch.

John Furlong has a small, but memorable role as a wife-beating businessman who tags along with Speakes in hopes of cashing in on the reward offered for Sarah’s capture.

Sam Elliott as Marshal Speakes in Desperate Trail (1994)

Frank Whaley as Walter Cooper in Desperate Trail (1994)

Directed by:
P.J. Pesce

Cast:
Sam Elliott … Marshal Speakes
Craig Sheffer … Jack Cooper
Linda Fiorentino … Sarah O’Rourke
Frank Whaley … Walter Cooper
John Furlong … Zeb Hollister
Robin Westphal … Mamie Hollister
Boots Southerland … Scar Face Leader
Joey Hamlin … Laughing Boy Killer
Daniel O’Haco … Happy
Bradley Whitford … Tommy Donnelly
Jill Scott Momaday … Janie

Runtime: 93 min.

John Furlong as Zeb Hollister in Desperate Trail (1994)

Robin Westphal as Mamie Hollister in Desperate Trail (1994)

Memorable lines:

Sarah O’Rourke, pulling a gun on Marshal Speakes: “Act stupid and your face will have a new hole.”

Marshal Speakes: “You gonna add thieving to killing, girl.”
Sarah O’Rourke: “If it gets me outta here. What ya gonna do? Hang me twice?”

Jack Copper, handing Sarah her share of the loot: “Better put it somewhere safe.”
Sarah O’Rourke: “Like where, Mr. Mastermind?”
Jack: “You might try your bloomers. I’m sure nothin’ else will be getting in there anytime soon.”
Sarah: “Nothing of yours anyway.”

Posse member, after the marshal kills a fellow posse member who lost both eyes to a wound: “Marshal, there weren’t no call for that.”
Marshal Speakes: “I did him a favor. Now get mounted.”

Jack Cooper: “Why is it every time you bed down with a woman she thinks she’s entitled to opinions in your affairs?”
Sarah O’Rourke, slapping him: “Go to hell, Jack.”

Sarah O’Rourke, about the possibility of hanging: “The only thing that scares me is going to hell and meetin’ up with your son again.”
Marshal Speakes: “You think you’re funny. You think what you did was right, don’t ya? Thing you gotta realize, you killed my boy .. I’m gonna put that rope around your neck myself.”

Marshal Speakes: “Lay down and die, boy. You earned it.”