Hey folks, Harry here... with some disappointing news to report. Dawg below dogs this early screening of TEXAS RANGERS. Now you should know that the film is very very early in the testing process, and isn't due for release till May 26th... But the problems that he's detailing here are tough problems. I had high hopes for this project when it was just a script by John Milius. And even when Steve Miner signed on, I wasn't too depressed. But then when James Van Der Beek and McDermott signed on... that was too Young Gunsy for me. Oh well.. Here's the report...
Hey Harry
First time writer, long time reader. I got the chance to get a sneak peak at Texas Rangers, the new McDermott-Van der Beek movie this past Tuesday night. I've gotta tell you, this was a huge disappointment. I went in expecting a rebirth of the old Western genre, and I came out seeing a remake of Varsity Blues. Unfortunately, this movie was not as good as Van der Beek's first, but it has him playing the same role. The crowd reaction was horrendous, as many people booed or mock-applauded the movie after it was finished. The problem with the movie can be summed up in one word: scripting. The plot was good, and McDermott was better than I expected in his role. But the script was cliched out of its mind. Van der Beek's one liners were right out of an 80's Schwartzenegger movie. It's a shame that we don't know how good of an actor Van der Beek can really be, because he plays the same role in every movie. In this one, he's the morally sound cowboy to McDermott's Rough Rider-wannabe. I won't go into the plot too much, because I don't want to include too many spoilers, but once McDermott is coaxed out of retirement to fight off Alfred Molina's renegades, he essentially makes Van der Beek his 2nd in command. This is impossible to believe because Van der Beek's character cannot even fire a gun straight, but he can write McDermott's diary entries. The plot has several other branches, with a failed romance between two side characters, but there is nothing to make this movie extraordinary. In fact, the script goes to great lengths to keep the movie ordinary.
Another huge disappointment was the character development. Rachel Leigh Cook has only one or two scenes in the entire movie, and Usher Raymond has maybe three. Their characters were far more interesting than Van der Beek's, but they get almost no screen time. Alfred Molina is superb, as always, in his role, but his lines are just as cliched as Van der Beek's.
There were some highlights of this movie. Most of the acting was very good. The action sequences were extremely entertaining and realistic for a Western. With a few little kinks taken out, this movie could turn into a solid box office hit and a critical underdog. However, unless those changes are made, audiences will still walk out feeling cheated out of their eight bucks.
Moofie Dawg
