don s
I enjoy the novels by Tony Hillerman so I assumed this would be a no-brainer. While the story has depth and is intelligently written, the pacing is too slow and the acting is surprisingly below average - probably based on the awkward dialogue. This is pretty awful; don't take it as representative of these wonderful Native American characters.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
How could Errol Morris, the great director of The Thin Blue Line and Gates of Heaven, turn out this incompetent piece of crap featuring a boom mic, who appears more times than our lead character and delivers a considerably better performance? The answer is unknown, but it is likely that Morris didn't even direct the film and some idiot at a TV station did.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Well now. I came to this film knowing nothing about its media profile, but having read the Tony Hillerman novel of the same name. There is so much bad to say about this pathetic adaptation, that let me first say that I give the production team all credit for actually going to the Navajo and Hopi countries to make the film; for actually using some Navajo and Hopi actors and actresses. HOWEVER, having gone to all the trouble, I would think that they would have made sure that they KEPT THE BOOM MIC OUT OF THE FRAME IN THE CLIMACTIC SCENE OF THE MOVIE!!!! HOLY HELL, PEOPLE!! Who made this trash, ED WOOD?! If you didn't have the budget for the torrential gully-buster that the denouement requires, why not make one of the other equally clever novels, but one less demanding of special effects? Why change the dead pilot's more easily hood-winkable sister into his presumably knowledgeable cohort of a wife? Why cast Buford Pusser (now there was a man) as a glaringly Texan Hopi?! There's a reason no one has reviewed this turkey before, and it's because no one saw it. It was buried, I imagine, just like Johnson's body would have been, if the torrential runoff from the mesa had actually been there to wash him away at the end of the film. I can only guess what Tony Hillemrman thought when...if he saw it. He probably felt as if he'd been poisoned with corpse powder. If I had been him, I'd have had an Enemy Way sung over it's rotting cels. No points, and apologies to the Navajo and Hopi for the missed opportunity. Actually, I didn't mind LDP as Chee, but think he was so amateurishly directed he couldn't possibly have succeeded in this dog.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is a good movie, sure it's imperfect, but it's authentic and beautiful at the same time.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The film’s title is derived from a Navajo belief that a man who commits evil does so because a dark wind has blown through his soul. Lou Diamond Philips as the Navajo flatfoot. An Indian police officer is mixed up in murder & drug smuggling on the reservation. When a man is found dead, young Chee becomes drawn into a series of events that include a robbery, drug smuggling & a plane crash. I have long been a fan of Tony Hillermans Navajo murder mystery books. In 1991 I did not hear about this since it went straight to video. I am surprised it did not appear on network TV. A lot of very strange, seemingly unconnected things are happening that Lou is asked to look into. A decaying body of a Navajo, the vandalism of a windmill, a plane crash in the middle of the reservation, some missing heroin from said crash, & the burglary of the Navajo Trading Post, yet all are connected. & Lou winds up on a suspect list as well. I like Lou Diamond Philips as detective Jim Chee. Phillips was great at bringing out the lonely, depressive side of Chee’s character. Film contains some very nice performances & a good story. The film was shot on location in & around the Navajo reservation in Arizona & New Mexico. The scenery is magnificent, I feel of this movie is true to the feel & action of the books as I have travelled extensively for years in an around NW New Mexico SW Colorado land. Robert Redford executive produced this & did a good thing in using American Indians as actors throughout the film. Director Morris combined the essence of the Chee character in a great manner ( -- the tension between the science & modernity of being an investigating law as opposed to native Navajo & Hopi beliefs) Window Rock completed a new Navajo Museum a few years ago & it’s a fabulous place to see. Get yourself some mutton tacos while you are in Window Rock. The production values of this film were poor & since it went straight to video there are some problems in the film. I overlook that. Any film of Hillermans work is better than none. Some of the books have been made into a PBS mystery series. I have not seen those yet. I enjoyed this one so much I just queued the PBS 3 on netlfix tdoay.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
<u>SUMMARY</u>
mystery flick starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Fred Ward and Gary Farmer. based on the novel of the same name by Tony Hillerman. directed by Errol Morris.
Jim Chee (Phillips) has just taken a job with the Navajo Tribal Police in Arizona when he discovers a decaying and unidentified body in the desert, that he believes may be linked to a recent robbery at the reservation's trading post.
<u>MY TAKE</u>
this film had so much potential, if only the cinematography and production value had been better. riddled with issues, it seemed as though it was thrown together. there was even a point in the film when the Boom Mic was visible! it really is a shame, too, because it could have a been a great film.
good little mystery with a pretty decent cast... if you can look past all of it's faults.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
