Lonesome Dove (1989)

Robert Duvall is Augustus McCrae and Tommy Lee Jones is Woodrow F. Call, former Texas Rangers who have formed a hard-scramble ranch in Lonesome Dove, Texas.

Then Jake Spoon (Robert Ulrich), a former colleague from their Texas Ranger days, shows up with news of a lush new frontier in Montana, just waiting for cattle and horse herds to graze on its rich land.

Call is smitten by the idea. McCrae is willing, eager to see one more frontier before it’s settled and hoping the trip north offers an opportunity to visit an old flame named Claire (Angelica Huston).

Spoon tags along too. But his destination is San Francisco, not Montana. He’s promised pretty Lorena Wood (Diane Lane), Lonesome Dove’s only whore, a trip to the West Coast city.

But Lorena is kidnapped by a vicious outlaw named Blue Duck while Spoon is off gambling. McCrae, one of Lorena’s frequent customers, sets off to rescue her.

It’s the first of many obstacles McCrea and Call will face on their trip north. Along for the journey is trusted companion Joshua Detts (Danny Glover); Dish Boggett (D.B. Sweeney), a cowboy who’s fallen for Lorena; and Newt Dobbs (Ricky Schroder), an orphan who might be Call’s son.

Meanwhile, July Johnson (Chris Cooper), an Arkansas sheriff, is on a journey of his own, trying to find Jake Spoon, who’s wanted in the accidental shooting of a man in his town.

He’s barely started that journey when it’s derailed. His pregnant wife Elmira has run off, trying to reconnect with a former outlaw lover named Dee Boot.

All paths will cross at Clara Allen’s ranch on the Platte River in Nebraska.

That’s before Call winds up making his trip to Montana in reverse, embarking on a 3,000-mile trip back to Lonesome Dover to fulfill a promise to his longtime partner.

Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call, ready to dispense justice his way in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Diane Lane as Lorena Wood, cutting cards with Gus for a poke and $50 in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Review:

Aired by CBS as a four-part mini-series in 1989, this film served notice that a Western could still be compelling, seem original and draw an audience decades after the genre reached its peak in popularity.

The secret: A host of standout performances and a script filled with original dialogue and not afraid to put character development over action.

As Augustus McCrae, Duvall serves up one of the most memorable Western characters ever. He’s an aging cowboy who’s tough when necessary, gentle with women and animals, determined to live life to its fullest.

Call is his foil, no-nonsense, hard-working, intollerant of laziness and “rude behavior,” uninterested in romance, stubborn about recognizing Newt as his son.

The mini-series isn’t perfect. Once Lorena is rescued, the film seems to drag a bit. The scenes featuring Duvall and former love Huston seem awkward, forced, implausible. Diane Lane is a gem as Lorena, but is given little to do but moon over the much, much older McCrae post-rescue.

But the pluses far outweigh the negatives, and critics recognized that, rewarding the series with an Emmy for outstanding direction (Simon Wincer) and Golden Globes for best mini-series and best actor (Duvall) in a mini-series.

Lonesome Dove spawned a pair of short-lived TV series, “Lonesome Dove the Series” (1994) and “Lonesome Dove, The Outlaw Years” (1994-95). It also spawned four more mini-series, a combination of prequels and sequels, including “Return to Lonesome Dove” (1993), “Streets or Laredo” (1995), “Dead Man’s Walk” (1996) and “Comanche Moon” (2008).

Of the primary cast members, only Ricky Schroder (Newt Dobbs), Chris Cooper (July Johnson) and Timothy Scott (Pea Eye Parker) returned for a second turn in the Lonesome Dove saddle four years later.

Ricky Schroder as Newt Dobbs, the young man assumed to be Woodrow Call’s son in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Timothy Scott as Pea Eye Park, finally reaching help after a long journey afoot in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Directed by:
Simon Wincer

Cast:
Robert Duvall … Augustus McCrae
Tommy Lee Jones … Woodrow F. Call
Danny Glover … Joshua Detts
Diane Lane … Lorena Wood
Robert Urich … Jake Spoon
Frederic Forrest … Blue Duck
D.B. Sweeney … Dish Boggett
Ricky Schroder … Newt Dobbs
Angelica Huston … Clara Allen
Chris Cooper … July Johnson
Timothy Scott … Pea Eye Park
Glenne Headly … Elmira Boot Johnson
Barry Corbin … Roscoe Brown
William Sanderson … Lippy Jones
Barry Tubb … Jasper Fant
Gavan O’Herlihy … Dan Suggs
Steve Buscemi … Luke
Frederick Coffin … Big Zwey
Travis Swords … Allan O’Brien

Runtime: 384 min.

Chris Cooper as July Johnson, the Fort Smith sheriff who finds himself searching for a criminal, then his wife in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Glenne Headly as Elmira Boot Johnson, realizing a stranger will be joining her journey on Lonesome Dove (1989)

Memorable lines:

Augustus McCrae to his pigs in the opening line of the mini-series: “Go down to the river to eat that snake. Now go on. Get out of here.”

Augustus McCrae, of Newt: “You oughtn’t be so hard on that boy, Woodrow. Hell, let him sit a while. The only chance he got at any education is listening to me talk.”
Woodrow F. Call: “What kind of education is that?”
Augustus: “You think he’ll learn more shovelin’ horse poop for you.”

Augustus upon Jake Spoon’s return: “Jake, if you ain’t something. We ain’t seen you in 10 years. Now you come ridin’ in here, want us to pack up, go north and get scalped.”

Jake Spoon, on his trouble with the law in Arkansas: “Damn mule skinner pulled down on me in a saloon. Shot back with a buffalo gun and killed a dentist. It was a pure accident, but I kilt him.”
Augustus McCrae: “Just standing in the wrong place, huh?”
Jake: “No, actually he was outside walking down the street. Plank wall won’t stop no .50 caliber bullet.”
Augustus: “But a dentist will.”

Woodrow F. Call to Augustus: “I swear, Gus. You’d argue with a possum.”

Augustus McCrae, when Call questions his work ethic: “I’m just tryin’ to keep things balanced, Woodrow. You do more work than you have to. So it’s my obligation to do less.”

Augustus McCrae: “Dern people makin’ towns everywhere. And it’s our fault too.”
Woodrow F. Call: “Our fault?”
Augustus: “Well, we chased out the Indians, didn’t we? Hung all the good bandits? Did if ever occur to you that everything we done was a mistake? Me and you done our work too well, Woodrow. Hell, we killed off most of the people made this country interesting to begin with.”

Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call, trying to find out what’s happened to partner Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Diane Lane as Lorena Wood, reacting to being slapped by Jake Spoon in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Augustus McCrae: “If you were a young woman with your whole life before you, would you want to stay in Lonesome Dove? Now, Maggie done it. Look how long she lasted.”
Woodrow F. Call: “She would have died anywhere. She just happened to die in Lonesome Dove. That’s all.”
August: “By God, Woodrow, you just don’t get my point, do you? It ain’t dyin’ I’m talkin’ bout. It’s livin’.”

July Johnson: “It’s been so long since I’ve done anything right, I can’t even remember.”

Woodrow F. McCall, after beating up an army scout for using a whip on Newt: “I hate rude behavior in a man. I won’t tolerate it.”

Claire: “There’s cheap land not three days ride from here, Gus. I don’t see why you have to go to Montana where the Indians can outfight you.”
Augustus McCrae: “Well, that’s where we started for. Me and Woodrow always like to get where we started for even if it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense.”

Augustus McCrae, after losing his leg following a scrap with Indians: “I walked this earth my whole life with my pride, you see. If it’s lost, let the rest be lost with it. Because there’s certain things my vanity won’t abide.”

Claire: “Did you give that boy your name before you left Montana?”
Woodrow F. Call: “I gave him my horse.”
Claire: “You gave him your horse and not your name.”
Call: “I put a lot more value on the animal than I do my name.”

William Sanderson as Lippy, the piano player who decides to accompany the cattle drive on Lonesome Dove (1989)

Helena Humann as Peach Johnson, convincing July Johnson that his duty involves tracking down Jake Spoon in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Adam Faraizi as Joe Boot, telling stepdad July Johnson the truth about his mother in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Angelica Huston as Clara Allen, opening her home to July Johnson and his infant son in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Timothy Scott as Pea Eye Park, pinned down by Indians with Augustus McCrae (Robert Duvall) in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Diane Lane as Lorena Woods and Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae have a swim interrupted in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Diane Lane as Lorena Wood, happy to see Jake Spoon return in Lonesome Dove (1989)

Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae, trying to console Lorena after her experience as Blue Duck’s captive in Lonesome Dove (1989)