Main Cast: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Rick Schroder, Robert Urich, Diane Lane, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston
Release Year: 1989
Run Time: 360 minutes
Plot
This six-hour miniseries, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry McMurtry, revitalized both the miniseries and Western genres, both of which had been considered dead for several years. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as fun-loving Gus MacRae and taciturn Woodrow Call, respectively, a pair of longtime friends and former Texas Rangers who crave one last adventure before they bow to their advancing years. Convinced that animals will thrive on the lush grasslands of Montana, Woodrow persuades Gus to undertake the arduous, 3,000-mile cattle drive there. Rounding up over a thousand head from Mexican rustlers south of the border, the men recruit a diverse crew of hands to help them. Among the party are Woodrow's illegitimate son Newt Dobbs (Rick Schroeder), local prostitute Lorena Wood (Diane Lane), and old compatriots Joshua Deets (Danny Glover), Jake Spoon (Robert Urich), and Pea Eye Parker (Tim Scott). Storms, hostile natives, poisonous snakes, and rustlers take their toll on the company before Montana is reached in an adventure that is equal parts Greek tragedy and classic, John Ford-style oater. Originally developed in the 1970s as a script by McMurtry for director Peter Bogdanovich and stars Henry Fonda, John Wayne, and James Stewart, Lonesome Dove earned 18 Emmy nominations and inspired a pair of miniseries sequel as well as two attempts at an ongoing television series. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Lonesome Dove effectively uses its television mini-series format to capture the sprawl and the scope of Larry McMurtry's source novel. The ensemble cast, led by stellar performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, is uniformly strong, and director Simon Wincer skillfully keeps the proceeding moving. Long out of favor as a storytelling format, the Western made an unexpected comeback in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with such films as Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves taking home Best Picture Oscars. Lonesome Dove was the best of several television efforts to cash in on this trend, which had vanished again by the mid-1990s. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Van Broughton Ramsey - Costume Designer, Simon Wincer - Director, William D. Wittliff - Executive Producer, Suzanne De Passe - Executive Producer, Basil Poledouris - Composer (Music Score), John Frick - Production Designer, Cary White - Production Designer, Douglas Milsome - Cinematographer, Dyson Lovell - Producer, William D. Wittliff - Screenwriter, Robert Halmi, Jr. - Co-Executive Producer, Michael Weisbarth - Supervising Producer, Larry McMurtry - Book Author
