WILD BILL
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
The Wild Bill (Jeff Bridges) we are seeing is Hickock but he is now in the latter part of his life. Not quite the hotshot he was when he justly earned the appellation "Wild Bill," and his eyesight not as focused as it once was, he is still not anyone with whom one would want to tangle, unless you include the kid Dave Arquette (Jack McCall) who would like a shot at Hickock who long ago killed Dave's father.
Along with Wild Bill we get Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin). She may be one tough woman but the keyword is woman and she, among others, loves Hickock. Just about everybody loves old Bill.
One thing you have to say about Hickock: he knew his Wild Bill days were over but he would never back down when challenged. What else could you ask of a man? Or woman?
Included in the film for no good reason I could discern are some pretty good actors in pretty crummy roles: John Hurt, Diana Lane, Christina Applegate, Bruce Dern, Marjoe Gortner (as a bible-thumping preacher; type cast?) and Keith Carradine as Buffalo Bill Cody.
Despite everyone's trying real hard to make something of the film, and Directed by William Hill it gets:
2 Bytes
4 bytes = Superb 3 bytes = Too good to be missed 2 bytes = So so 1 byte - Save your money
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