Sam N
Walker is a mad, fascinating ride — part biopic, part political piss-take, and unlike like anything else of its time. Alex Cox takes the true story of William Walker, an American who rocked up in 1850s Nicaragua and decided to make himself president and turns it into a wild dig at US meddling during the Contra War. It starts playing it straight, then the modern touches sneak in — Zippos, machine guns, Coke bottles — until the whole thing turns into bonkers, brilliant chaos. It’s loud, proudly political, and properly strange.
Cox directs with swagger, making great use of Nicaragua’s dusty, sun-scorched backdrops. Rudy Wurlitzer’s script has bite and even manages to land a few laughs. Ed Harris is all intensity as Walker — half madman, half true believer. Sure, it’s weird and rough around the edges, but it’s pacy, bold, and never overstays its welcome.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/22/25
Full Review
Alec B
Another one of those movies that just wasn't deserving of the vitriol it received upon release. I think that people fail to realize that the point that Cox was trying to make was how even though the methods of war and technology have changed, we still justify expansion and intervention with the same old ideas that continue to fail (hence why the anachronistic items and references continue to mount throughout the movie).
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
10/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Misunderstood work of art.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
04/04/23
Full Review
Taylor L
"All you have to remember is that our cause is a righteous one."
Seldom has a film ever destroyed a filmmaker's career so immediately and thoroughly as Walker did to Alex Cox; for some idea of how significant the backlash was, both Siskel and Ebert gave this film zero star reviews independently, and Cox himself (still active as a director and educator) hasn't been affiliated with a major studio production since its release.
The film takes on a particularly interesting historical subject - William Walker, the 19th century American mercenary, renaissance man, and practitioner of manifest destiny. Instead of a fastidious retelling of historical fact, Cox instead opts for a loose interpretation of the biography supplemented with a series of explicit anachronisms intended to highlight parallels to more modern American policies south of the border (particularly the penchant for political interference for the benefit of private interests). Walker becomes the embodiment of American imperialism, a mishmash of vague idealistic goals, arrogance, self-interest, corporate influence, and respectability thinly covering base desires. Walker's devolution from nominally educated, practically clueless, and uniformly unsympathetic to overseer of a brutal takeover is full of plenty of on-the-nose allegorical moments designed to consistently reinforce criticisms of American 'shoot-first' policy, but it's also got quite a bit of self-awareness and humor, as well as a creative and slightly unhinged performance from Ed Harris.
To be released by a major American studio in the Reagan years while focusing explicitly on (and being shot in) Nicaragua while Iran-Contra was in full swing, it's easy to see why there was considerable backlash by some that saw the film's surreal condemnation of the less palatable elements of American policy and culture as an attack on America as a whole. (3/5)
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
08/29/22
Full Review
Audience Member
Director Alex Cox (famous for Repo Man, 1984, and Sid and Nancy, 1986), here takes a stab at a historical biopic of William Walker, an American "Filibuster" who became the self-appointed President of Nicaragua in 1856. Of course, Cox's focus on Nicaragua was no accident, given Ronald Reagan's then-current efforts to undermine the Sandinistas by providing (illegal) aid to the anti-government "Contras". However, Cox clearly did not set out to make a serious film, instead presenting Walker's time in Nicaragua (after an earlier, very bloody, foray in Mexico) as almost comic chaos, with cartoonish violence and anachronistic dialogue and props (from the 1980s, not the 1850's). Ed Harris plays Walker serene and very nearly straight but with just a tinge of lunacy that starts to manifest in his decisions (to legalise slavery, to burn the town of Granada, etc.). In fact, a quick look at Wikipedia suggests that Rudy Wurlitzer's script has stayed very close to the facts of Walker's life and exploits (and ultimate death by firing squad). But, as I said, this is not a reverential treatment (nor should it be, given the imperialistic and inhumane actions of the "hero") - only as the final credits scrawl do we get reminded of the current US actions in Nicaragua, underscoring the otherwise implicit statement being made. After the film flopped, Cox found that he was never again able to make a movie with Hollywood backing. Yet his subversive approach here might be the best way to present the horrors of history, keeping you laughing in order to stop you from crying. But the take-home points still get through.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
Audience Member
for the serious historian only....has ed harris ever made a movie set in the present?
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
Continue with Google
>
