Shootout At High Noon Marathon: Rebuttal: The Quick And The Dead (1995)

Hey Edgar, the latest rebuttal in The Shootout At High Noon Marathon is just going to about how much fun we had with the film, no?

Remember folks, for a proper frame of reference go check out Edgar’s review of The Quick And The Dead for his site, Between The Seats.

You leave me with very little to discuss in this rebuttal, my Canadian friend. Seriously, we agree often and when we do we agree very intimately. There’s literally only one area where I can take any umbrage with your review. Otherwise it’s a finely written piece that I agree with in spades. The Quick And The Dead was a lot of fun, it’s not meant to be serious and it reads as if you and I both came to that same conclusion. There’s no need for a paragraph by paragraph or point by point breakdown this time Edgar, our reviews are so in sync that to do so would be overkill. Instead, I’m gonna lambaste you with our one area of disagreement and then mosey on down the road.

What is the one area of The Quick And The Dead where I disagree with you? If anyone said the acting of Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe then you get a cookie. I’m not going to try and sell anyone on either of those two actors giving a world class performance in The Quick And The Dead. That doesn’t mean I think their performances were bad either, but I do think they did more with their roles than the little wolverine up north does.

To start with Miss Stone, yes, the graveyard scene is like a pox upon the film. Other than that she says very little and spends most of her time shooting troubled faces at that camera. That’s good though, because as the graveyard scene shows she can’t act for anything. By limiting her to troubled expressions and brief grunts of dialogue Sam Raimi successfully hides her failings as an actress. Miss Stone’s character is a shadowy and quiet one, and it doesn’t work when she is anything but that.

That brings us to Mr. Crowe, who again does not give a great performance but was very competent I thought. Cort doesn’t want to gunsling anymore, but once a gun is in his hand he can’t help but to gunsling. I thought that Mr. Crowe had a lot of fun with the part, he played the character very small and frightened of what he used to be and most likely still was. Yeah, he was too serious at times, but never enough so that I felt he was wooden or a detriment to the picture.

Edgar, that’s all I have for you this time out. It’s a paltry effort I know, but we agreed so much that I was left with very little to say. I’ll let you know one thing my friend, I am enjoying the hell out of this marathon so far and am psyched for what is on the horizon. A little difference in our takes would help these rebuttals sure, but I’m digging this marathon so much as is that we could agree on every movie to come and I’d be a happy camper. Of course, you are just agreeing with me all the time because you know cool and intelligence wrapped into one when you see it. But, that really goes without saying, I mean just look at me, or read my words as the case may be, I’m so freaking awesome!

Read Edgar’s rebuttal to my review of The Quick And The Dead at Between The Seats.

Cheers,
Bill