Movie Review: The Quick and The Dead (1995)

The Quick and The Dead (1995) directed by Sam Raimi

Ellen (Sharon Stone) is a gunslinger with a past who rides into the Old West town of Redemption. Redemption is under the heal of mayor Herod (Gene Hackman), who collects a ridiculously high tax from the locals. The town also hosts a shoot-out duel. A lot of low-lifes drift into town in hopes of winning the title of fastest draw and the $123,000 that goes to the winner. Of note are Cort (Russell Crowe), a former associate of Herod who has foresworn violence and passes himself off as a preacher (though he doesn't do any sermonizing), and the Kid (Leonardo DiCaprio), who loves showing off and runs the local gun shop. Rumor has it the Kid is also the son of Herod. Ellen joins the contest and each day, pairs of gunslingers face off each hour. As the number of contestants drop, some background is given for Ellen, revealing her motivation.

The movie is mostly focused on Ellen (Stone was a producer). Her back story is a bit predictable, providing a typical motivation for wanting to take down Herod. Hackman gives the best performance in the movie. His scenery chewing fits in with the hyperbolic visuals typical of Sam Raimi (who directed The Evil Dead and the original Spider-man trilogies). The rest of the cast is fine though Stone and DiCaprio are not very convincing as characters from the Old West. They don't have that hardness of appearance or demeanor that their characters should have; other characters are exaggeratedly ugly, making an even bigger contrast to Stone and DiCaprio. The tone is a little confusing too: The score is a pastiche of other Western scores, maybe for comic effect, and a lot of the visuals (like the zooming-in to someone's eyes during the shoot-outs) could be either a homage or a parody spaghetti westerns. The actors play it like a drama but some moments are too absurd to be taken seriously. The movie leaves the viewer guessing about the filmmakers' intent even after the end credits roll, making this an unsatisfying western.

Not recommended.