James Garner plays Woodrow Call, hired by an Eastern railroad tycoon to hunt down young killer Joey Garza (Alexis Cruz) following a series of holdups.
It doesn’t take long for Call to figure out he’s on the trail of a cold-blooded killer, one more interested in the killing than the loot from the robberies.
He turns to old friend Pea Eye (Sam Shepard) for assistance. But Pea Eye turns him down initially. After all, he’s married to Lorena (Sissy Spacek) and has young children.
So Woodrow sets out with Ned Brookshire (Charles Martin Smith), a representative of the railroad, and a young lawman (Tristan Tait as Deputy Ted Plunkert).
Haunted by his decision not the stand by his old pal, Pea Eye eventually takes up the trail as well.
And it turns out there are two killers and two trails.
One is that of Joey Garza, now armed with a long-range rifle he’s taken from one of his victims.
The other is that of Mox Mox and his gang. Mox Mox is a vicious one-eyed outlaw who revels in burning his victims while they’re still alive.
Lorena’s familiar with his viciousness from the time she was captured by Blue Duck.
When she learns he’s in the area, she sends her kids to safety and sets out to find her husband.
All trails will lead to the south of the border village where Joey Garza’s mother Maria lives.
She’ll stand by her son, even though he’s gone bad. At least until standing by him puts her two younger children in jeopardy.
James Garner as Woodrow Call, wondering what follows his bounty hunter days in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Sissy Spacek as Lorena, eager to hear news of her husband in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Review:
As opposed to “Return to Lonesome Dove,” this CBS mini-series marked author Larry McMurtry’s official sequel to 1989’s “Lonesome Dove.”
And if it isn’t in quite the same league as the original, it’s far better than “Return” in plot, script and casting.
McMurtry serves up a memorable group of characters — one that extends beyond the leads to Randy Quaid as a profane and unkept John Wesley Hardin, Smith as the Easterner so far out of his element and Sonia Braga as the conflicted mother.
Then there’s, George Carlin as the aging drunk who loves Maria Garza and Vanessa Martinez as her blind daughter.
The commitment to character in addition to action — and this is a quite violent film — pays off in a rather long coda that follows the climatic “showdown.”
And that “showdown” is especially well handled. Let’s just say it doesn’t play out the way you’d expect.
All that said, there’s no explanation as to how Call, after driving a herd to Montana and creating a ranch there, wound up back in Texas, hiring out his gun. There’s no mention of his out-of-wedlock son Newt Dobbs either.
And the development most difficult to swallow as this film opens is that Lorena, the pretty whore from the original series, wound up married to Pea Eye, Call’s very dedicated but very simple-minded companion.
Sam Shepard takes over that role in this film, subbing for Timothy Scott, who had played it so memorably in the first two mini-series.
Sam Shepard as Pea Eye, Call’s realiable but reluctant sidekick in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Alexis Crus as Joey Garza, the cold-blood young killer Call’s hired to track down in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Directed by:
Joseph Sargent
Cast:
James Garner … Capt. Woodrow Call
Sissy Spacek … Lorena
Sam Shepard … Pea Eye
Ned Beatty … Judge Roy Bean
Randy Quaid … John Wesley Hardin
Wes Studi … Famous Shoes
Charlies Martin Smith … Ned Brookshire
George Carlin … Billy Williams
Alexis Crus … Joey Garza
Kevin Conway … Mox Mox
James Gammon … Charles Goodnight
Tristan Tait … Deputy Ted Plunkert
Miriam Colon … Estrella
James Victor … Gordo
Sonia Braga … Maria Garza
Vanessa Martinez … Teresa Garza
Julio Carreon-Reyes … Rafael Garza
Anjanette Comer … Beaulah
Runtime: 300 min.
Sonia Braga as Maria Garza, a woman with one son in danger and two in need of protection in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Vanessa Martinez as Teresa Garza, Maria’s blind daughter in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Memorable lines:
Joey Garza: “I only like gringos when they’re dead.”
John Wesley Hardin: “Don’t sit there. Go outside to die. Nobody wants you dyin’ in here. This is a proper saloon.”
Woodrow Call to Ned Brookshire: “If I was your doctor, I’d tell you to stay away from telegraph offices. Everytime you go in one, you come out looking sick.”
John Wesley Hardin: “I don’t like being in small rooms with whores who shoot pistols.”
Judge Roy Bean: “Why would he (Mox Mox) want to burn a dog?”
Woodrow Call: “Why would he want to burn a man? Cause he likes to.”
Ned Beatty as Judge Roy Bean, explaining how he became a judge in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Randy Quaid as John Wesley Hardin, willing to kill a man for blocking his sunlight in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Pea Eye: “You oughtn’t leave that pistol cocked. You might have a bad dream, jerk and shoot your knee off.”
Judge Roy Bean: “Might rain whores out of the sky too. But I doubt it.”
Ned Brookshire: “How far is it back?”
Pea Eye: “Back where?”
Brookshire: “To where it’s not like this. People getting killed every day. No houses. No street cars. Back to civilization.”
Ned Brookshire: “I have spent nothing but cold nights since I got to Texas. And I be damned if I’m going to spend another cold night squatting on my heels just to be shot in the morning. He can shoot me now and spare me the shivering.”
Charles Goodnight: “Life’s but a knife edge anyway. Sooner or later, a man slips and gets cut.”
Wes Studi as Famous Shoes, the aging Indian guide hired to help track down Joey Garza in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Charles Martin Smith as Ned Brookshire, the eastern railroad man sent to accompany Call in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Tristan Tait as Deputy Ted Plunkert, the young man who leaves a pregnant wife to ride off with Capt. Call in Streets of Laredo (1995)
George Carlin as Billy Williams, the aging drunk in love with Maria Garza in Streets of Laredo (1995)
James Gammon as Charles Goodnight, delivering the news that Mox Mox is alive and killing again in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Kevin Conway as Mox Mox, the killer who likes to burn his victims alive in Streets of Laredo (1995)
Sissy Spacek as Lorena, getting disturbing news about an old adversary in Streets of Laredo (1995)
James Garner as Woodrow Call, listening to an Easterner’s stories about the Civil War in Streets of Laredo (1995)
){kind=link}
Streets of Laredo as a book didn’t come close to Lonesome Dove. But if Mark says the movie is good then I’ll try it!! (I actually did like Return to Lonesome Dove with so many original characters in it. But that’s me)