It’s hard to make a decent western film these days. For period pieces, whether they are set 50 years in the past or the future, the issues of costumes and continuity become a huge burden and threaten the films overall quality. With every good western we see there are dozens upon dozens that go straight to DVD with nothing to set them apart from the droves. The Gambler, The Girl and the Gunslinger bypassed both steps and went straight to TV, yes folks, this is a direct-to-TV movie making its DVD debut. Now, I’m not so elitist as to immediately look down on a film for being made for the small screen but that really doesn’t matter since the movie has so many issues anyways.
After you’re done applauding the writers or marketers for their stunning use of alliteration on the title, you can begin to understand that the primary characters should have been the story instead of a half-baked defense of a town by ex-Clark Kent and a chauvinistic drunk. First, we meet showman Shea (Dean Cain) with a knack for gunplay and cards who wins half a ranch estate off a foolish cad with no sense. At the close of the game he’s warned the other co-owner might not be so welcoming of his new partner. Sure enough, he’s not. B.J. (James Tupper) growls and snarls his way through life, pays his workers minimum wage and feeds them almost nothing. Shea breaks his tradition of minimum compensation while also hitting on Shea’s love interest, the neighboring ranch owner Liz Calhoun (Allison Hossack).
The film starts off with a few instances showing the duo’s initial conflict, how they come to disagree in comically amiable ways (recall Cain’s general Lois & Clark persona with a southern gentleman’s twang). It climbs to a general climax which steals from better westerns as the two gambits work hand-in-hand (despite Shea’s mumbling to leave) to fend off an invading force of banditos and military men. Funny antics are used, identities are mistaken and people get shot in really poorly shot action sequences, by the end it’s a comedy that it never meant to be. Yet, you’d swear Dean Cain was playing the entire movie as a comedy whereas everyone else seems to think the movie is a straight up drama- which only makes it more awkwardly funny.
Where the film spent time developing a paltry story of impending invasion, it could have better reinvested itself in the tale of conflict between two men of vastly different walks of life gradually coming to remunerate each other’s shortcomings as they find a middle ground for their disparate ideals. We end up with a truncated version of that smashed in between the opening scene and a final 20 minute long sequence of ridiculous efforts at conflict. The real shame of the film is the neutered sense of violence. Action sequences have been edited with an odd slow-motion style that blurs any real action and kills any worthwhile moments. Nevermind a lack of action, let’s talk about a total void of realistic language. Did the movie learn nothing from Deadwood? I thought we were past the times when we regarded frontier life as a simple Laura Ingalls Wilder fantasy of mild turmoil tempered by good old time Americana values. Some attempts show the hardships and the grit of the lifestyle but for the most part the whole movie just glosses over it. Similarly, the deeper love triangle that could and should have existed amounts to little more than a glib ‘we’re friends now, I’ll help you overcome the obstacle that was keeping you from your longtime romance’. It’s a smooth and polished ending with exactly what you’d expect from a Hallmark channel movie which is really what makes it so disappointing.
DVD Bonus Features
Brief interviews with cast members and an on set location featurette give the audience an added sense of how far the film went to arrive at such a shortsighted film. A photo gallery and a trailer are also included.
"The Gambler, The Girl and The Gunslinger" is on sale November 10, 2009 and is rated NR. Action, Drama, Western. Directed by Anne Wheeler. Written by Larry Cohen. Starring Dean Cain, James Tupper, Allison Hossack.
