GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1993 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: In spite of the presence of Gene
Hackman and Robert Duvall, this is a bland telling of
Geronimo's last uprising. While all the major characters
were real people, there are major lapses in historical
accuracy. At least it does not fall into the trap of making
the Indians all saints and military all bad. Rating +1 (-4
to +4).
I think that the most positive thing I can say about GERONIMO is that it trusts the viewer. It shows historical events and it trusts the audience to make the right decision about who was right and who was wrong. That sounds like a small thing, but it was more than you got from films like DANCES WITH WOLVES, THUNDERHEART, or, on another continent, GANDHI. So often when a film shows the old establishment as wrong, it shows everybody who sided with or worked for that establishment as being totally reprehensible. I doubt that anybody can see GERONIMO and not come away with the belief that a great injustice was done to the Chiricahua Apache. But many of the whites in this film are compassionate toward the Indians. And not all of the Indians agree with each other about their relations with the whites. Most of the people in this film are a bit bewildered about what is happening and are ambivalent about United States Government policies toward Indians. As an example, Robert Duvall as an army scout professes his hatred of the Indian in the early parts of the film, but it becomes clear later in the film that underneath the surface he respects Indians and is also indignant over injustices done to them. While other aspects of this film are not so well handled, the complexity of characters is a change from the pre-digested Political Correctness we often see in films of this sort. However, the film does twist facts to make it a more salable quantity.
The story, as narrated by Lt. Britton Davis (Matt Damon) is not a full biography of Geronimo, but only covers about five years and Geronimo's last uprising, 1881-1886. At the beginning of the film Geronimo (Wes Studi) is already a living legend, but he now wants peace and is willing to turn himself over to the cavalry and settle into life at the reservation. But when an Indian holy man is killed in the incident at Cibicue Creek that led to a battle killing several whites, Geronimo (who is present at the incident) decides to break his agreement and head for Mexico. The film covers two expeditions to apprehend Geronimo and his final surrender.
A major component of this film is the beautiful near-desert vistas that serve as a backdrop of many of the scenes. Here also you should take what you are seeing with a grain of salt. The actual terrain over which Geronimo ranged, particularly around Tombstone, Fort Thomas, and Fort Bowie does not look at all as majestic with few of the buttes and other rock formations that we see with most of this film. You find those a little further north in Monument Valley and in Utah, the latter being where the exteriors were filmed. Real "Geronimo territory" is flat or hilly with sand and scrub.
The film is based on a story by John Milius, who also co-authored the script, and that leaves some latitude for fictionalizing. While the film is supposedly narrated by Davis, it is clearly not based on or even consistent with the real Britton Davis' book about these incidents, THE TRUTH ABOUT GERONIMO. Do not take much of this film as actual history. Geronimo was no place near the Cibicue Creek battle. In real life the incident happened mostly to White Mountain Apaches, though there were a few Chiricahuas present at the time. The two different tribes of the Apache nation did not even like each other more often than not. Chiricahuas did not get on well with Jicarilla Apaches, Mescalero Apaches, or White Mountain Apaches. Geronimo's breakout was only very indirectly related to the battle of Cibicue Creek. Following Cibicue there was a large buildup in white military force in the area and this buildup of power is probably what frightened Geronimo off the reservation about a month later. Britton Davis greatly respects Geronimo in the film, while the real Davis called Geronimo "a thoroughly vicious, intractable, and treacherous man." He also called the Apaches "wild, intractable, and resentful of restraint." In that book the real Davis had a different point of view both on the campaign against Geronimo and on the warrior himself. Also Davis did not go into Mexico under the command of Miles, as it is shown in the film, and did not participate in the final surrender of Geronimo. If truth be known, other tribes and even other Apaches considered Geronimo a loose cannon and an uncontrollable terrorist. His campaign against the whites probably put him on the side of some justice, but not for what anyone would really consider the right reasons. As for Britton Davis resigning the army in indignation over its policies against the Indians, that too is total invention. Davis resigned because he got a better job offer and did not like army life. So much of this film really is a very inaccurate account of what took place in history, even if it does cover many real events and characters. This is a very distorted view to make history seem to support the Millius' wishful interpretation.
GERONIMO suffers a great deal by comparison to the recent GETTYSBURG. GERONIMO's history is not nearly as accurate and at the same time GETTYSBURG's characters were a good deal more interesting. The lead is Jason Patric as Lt. Charles Gatewood. Patric is a good deal too handsome and is not nearly as formal-looking or gaunt as the real Gatewood. And he lacks the real Gatewood's thick moustache. The film wants you to sympathize with his point of view, and has chosen to make him heart-throb handsome rather than to go the extra step to make him look like the real Gatewood's photographs. But Patric is pretty good at horsemanship. Gene Hackman also fails to capture the look of his character. General Crook wore a bushy forked beard that gave the impression of one full beard going off to the right and one to the left. Director Walter Hill probably decided that the real beard would upstage the actor. Under Hill's flat direction, only Studi seems to project any screen presence at all. The historic Geronimo had a perpetual scowl on his face and Studi is one of the few Indian actors who really looks the part. Ry Cooder's score, using Indian themes, may conjure up an emotional response in people who know more about Indian music than I do, but for me it conveyed very little of the feeling that was called for.
GERONIMO: AN AMERICAN LEGEND is generally accurate to history while still twisting events to support a predetermined set of conclusions. It is more fair to both sides than it might have been, but it still is a lackluster piece of storytelling. I give it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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