"I prefer my coffee hot and my conversations private" - James Garner as Captain Woodrow F. Call to a nosy bartender
Streets of Laredo DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Captain Woodrow F. Call (James Garner) is back in this sequel to Lonesome Dove. Based on Larry McMurtry's novel of the same, Streets of Laredo takes place several years after the events depicted in Lonesome Dove. Now in his twilight years, Captain Call has been hired by railroad accountant Ned Brookshire (Charles Martin Smith) to track down Joey Garza (Alexis Cruz), a young Mexican bandit who has been attacking trains not for monetary gain but simply for the thrill of killing passengers. The two set off in search of the killer, taking along young deputy Ted Plunkert (Tristan Tait) as backup.
Call's old friend Pea Eye Parker (Sam Shepard) initially agrees to help, but begs off of the mission. Since we last saw Pea Eye, he married Lorena (Sissy Spacek) who still holds Call responsible for the death of her first love and now fears losing the father of her five children, too. Pea cedes to his strong-willed wife's feelings, but is wracked with guilt about abandoning his old friend. Pea eventually sets off to find Call's party with the help of Famous Shoes (Wes Studi), a laconic, matter of fact Kickapoo tracker.
In Ojnaga, Mexico, Joey's mother Maria (Sonia Braga) struggles to balance her love of her son with her knowledge of his evil nature. She remembers the kind boy he was before being kidnapped and sold to the Apaches, who exposed him to untold horrors for three years before he was able to escape. Maria is also aware that Ranger Call killed her horse thief father and brothers when she was a young girl. She tries her best to protect her wayward son, even as he threatens to kill his blind sister Teresa (Vanessa Martinez) and mildly retarded brother Rafael (Julio Carreon-Reyes).
Streets of Laredo is not as epic as Lonesome Dove. Superficially it is - the sets and costumes are more impressive this time around, and the sepia tones of the original have been replaced with rich, vibrant colors straight out of Technicolor Westerns of yore. Plot wise, however, Streets lacks the scope of Dove. Compared to Dove's cattle drive and the myriad adventures and side stories that Gus and Call encountered along the way, Streets' focus on only one main storyline feels too narrow and single-minded.
This is especially true in part one of the miniseries. Streets of Laredo was originally broadcast over three hours one night and two hours on a subsequent night. Unfortunately, the longest part of the miniseries is also the weakest. Part one is all build, leaving most of the action for the much more satisfying part two. Part one is simultaneously slow and rushed - its lopsided length causes it to drag in parts, but at the same time, it often feels like key character development and motivations have been cut out. Plus there is little or no explanation of what has happened to many of the characters from the first miniseries.
The main characters are also problematic. In Streets, Call should be even more of a relic from an earlier time. The West is being tamed at a much faster rate. Railroad travel, which was not even acknowledged in Dove, dominates the story here, and in the background of one scene we can see telegraph lines being erected. This is an interesting idea that is barely explored.
If anything, Call seems to be more sympathetic and friendly this time around. This is due mostly to the casting of James Garner in the role originally created by Tommy Lee Jones. Garner is a talented actor, but he is too naturally personable to effectively play a moody loner. We are constantly told by other characters that he is a hard, unfeeling man, but this is not necessarily seen in Garner's portrayal.
Spacek's older, grumpier, Lorena and Shepard's younger, smarter Pea Eye are also somewhat at odds with the characters as originally created in Lonesome Dove. The actors are terrific, but their casting in many ways represents a complete rethinking of the characters as presented in the original. Perhaps these casting changes were not quite as jarring after the six year passage of time between the miniseries' original premieres, but viewed on DVD, the differences are much more evident.
The supporting cast features several noteworthy performances. Randy Quaid's cruel killer John Wesley Hardin is swaggeringly effective, and the actor seems to revel in the part. Ned Beatty's Judge Roy Bean is almost a cameo role, but he delivers an indelible performance. George Carlin is also fun as Billy Williams, a trader who takes whichever side is most convenient at the given moment.
McMurtry would go on to explore his characters' younger years in Dead Man's Walk.
The two parts that make up Streets of Laredo are divided onto two discs. The discs are housed in an oversized keepcase. The miniseries is also divided into chapters. The menus are a much more bare bones affair than the ones for Lonesome Dove. The fact that the insert, DVD face, and the back of the keepcase feature images and stars from Return to Lonesome Dove rather than from Streets of Laredo seems to indicate that much less care was put into the making of this DVD than its predecessor.
