title: THE LONG RIDERSyear: 1980
cast: David Carradine, Dennis Quaid, Stacy Keach, James Keach
director: Walter Hill
rating: *1/2
How could a film directed by action-guru Walter Hill and starring real life brothers Carradine, Quaid and Keach not be good? A few reasons. One, the opening feels like the middle: a bank robbery/introduction to the gang, primarily bloodthirsty, gun-happy Dennis Quaid. Perhaps this is to separate the murderer from the other outlaws, all depicted as misunderstood saints... yet another problem. While many outlaw flicks lionize the historically depicted antagonists, this goes too far: leaving the characters completely uninteresting. Walter Hill provides a few brief action scenes, but mostly we get alluring landscapes and dull, overlong conversations with our dusty heroes and their gals (the same problem would occur in Michael Mann's HEAT). Hill tries so hard to show the diamonds in the rough there's hardly any rough at all.
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