Johnson County War (2002)

Tom Berenger is Cain Hammett, Adam Storke is Dale Hammett. They’re brothers who have settled down on small ranches in Wyoming — Dale with a wife and son and a second child on the way.

Their first problem is younger brother Harry (Luke Perry), who’s been rustling cattle.

Their second is a land baron from England known as Lord Peter, who already runs 5,000 head of cattle and would like to own lots more.

He has a crooked lawman named Hunt Lawton (Burt Reynolds) and a ranch foreman named Jesse Jacklin (Jack Conley) to do his dirty work.

At first, that means rounding up rustlers like Harry.

Later, though, the cattle barons get greedy. They decide to drive all the small ranchers and squatters from the Wyoming so they can expand their personal empires.

And if Hunt and Jesse can’t handle the job, maybe hired guns from Texas can.

Review:

Give the producers credit for providing the budget for a larger-than-normal scale Western. And it’s a great-looking telefilm. But for all it’s flaws, at least “Heaven’s Gate” strikes viewers as gritty and realistic. This telling of the Johnson County War strikes bum notes all over the place.

The young rebel role that suited Perry so well on “90210” isn’t nearly as convincing out West. Does Fay Masterson’s husband die to do anything other than provide him with a love interest in the film?

And if they’re so vicious, why do the cattlemen and their henchmen take so much lip from a black cook named Hambone, who freely fraternizes with their enemies and somehow becomes the film’s totally unnecessary moral compass.

Two particularly absurd scenes …

First, Rory Hammett goads Cain to avenge his brother’s death by hunting down and killing Lawton. Cain refuses, arguing it would provide the cattlemen the very excuse they’re looking for to declare war on the small ranchers. Then he relents. As he’s ready to ride off, Rory has a change of heart. She doesn’t want to risk losing him, too. But Cain rides off to find Lawton anyway. Huh?

The second comes when Harry Hammett rides through a hail of gunfire from the 50 gunman the cattlemen have hired, unscathed of course. Why? Because he wants to ride up to the cabin Cain is trapped in to tell him he’s going for help.

If you remember anything from the film, it’s likely to be Rachel Ward’s short but sassy role as a whore who beds men for money while her husband sits in the next room writing letters to the editor in an attempt to shed light on the cattlemen’s evil ways.

Directed by:
David S. Cass

Cast:
Tom Berenger … Cain Hammett
Luke Perry … Harry Hammett
Adam Storke … Dale Hammett
Michelle Forbes … Rory Hammett
Burt Reynolds … Hunt Lawton
Christoper Cazenove … Lord Peter
Jack Conley … Jesse Jacklin
Silas Weir Mitchelle … Mitch Slaughter
Rachel Ward … Queenie
Ken Pogue … Wally Tascot
Fay Masterson … Clara Jager
Blu Mankuma … Hambone

Runtime: 240 min.

Memorable lines:

Rory Hammett: “My blood boils every time I think of that man (Hunt Lawton), and it’s boiling right now. And part of that boil belongs to you (Cain) and Dale for being such damn mealy mouth fools that you have to wait for a pretty reason to kill a man like that.”

Queenie: “I’ll sleep with thieves, but I draw the line at killers.”

Mitch: “She’s just an old whore, Jessie. Folks ain’t gonna have much sympathy for some bossy old whore.”
Jessie: “Shows how stupid you really are. Men like whores, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Englishman Lord Peter: “You’re evidently not a travelled man.”
Hunt Lawton: “Never had any desire to travel halfway around the world to see a country that’s half the size of a good ranch in Texas.”

Fay Masterson as Clara Jager, newly widowed thanks to the range war in Johnson County War (2004)

Silas Weir Mitchelle as Mitch Slaughter, visiting Queenie with nary a poke on his mind in Johnson County War (2004)

Rachel Ward as Queenie, the whore who will occasionally take stock as payment in Johnson County War (2004)

Lyle St. Goddard as Avery, Queenie’s partner and a critic of Lord Peter in Johnson County War (2004)

Stevie Mitchelle as Joey Hammett, son of Rory and Dale in Johnson County War (2004)

Blu Mankuma as Hambone, cook for Lord Peter but friend of the Hammetts in Johnson County War (2004)