The Quick and the Dead
Stone so-so in wacky Western that can't decide if it's a comedy or drama.
Stylish, wacky and strange, "The Quick and the Dead" isn't funny enough to be a comedy, yet it's not straight-shooting enough to be traditional. So, what kind of Western is this, anyhow?The draw, of course, is Sharon Stone, a built-in showstopper in this gender-bending bit of casting, taking on the Clint Eastwood role of a quiet stranger who rides into an Old West town, is quick with a gun and obviously has revenge in mind. Complete with stubby cigar.
And director Sam Raimi, in his first effort outside the horror genre ("Darkman," the "Evil Dead" trilogy), obviously has Sergio Leone in mind. In fact, he manages to gleefully purloin just about every cliche carved out by the great "spaghetti" Western filmmaker in his four greatest '60s pictures, "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," and "Once Upon a Time in the West." (Right down to Alan Silvestri's pseudo-Ennio Morricone score.)
But there seems to be little question that "The Quick and the Dead" should have taken a more comic aim. As it is, the film's more off-the-wall tendencies — and there are plenty — just seem ill at ease, if not completely out of place.
Stone rides into the rundown, corrupt town of Redemption with confidence and a surly look on her dirty face. She's there for a contest organized by the villain who runs the town, played by Gene Hackman.
The contest pits a bevy of fast guns against each other, as they square off at appointed times while the townfolk gather to watch. First prize is $123,000 . . . and just about everyone else will leave in a pine box. It's a gimmick that, unfortunately, wears out its welcome before the film is two-thirds through.
Stone is at her best when she is sneeringly confident, but later, when she is supposed to be weakened by Hackman's powers of in-tim-idation, she becomes less convincing. Thankfully, however, she has little dialogue to mangle.
Among the higher-profile gunslingers are a gunfighter-turned-preacher (Russell Crowe), a young hotshot who thinks he's invincible (Leonardo DiCaprio), a military man who may be in town for more than merely the contest (Keith David) and a self-styled gambler who may be a fake (Lance Henriksen). (Pat Hingle and Gary Sinise are among the other familiar cast-members.)
There are some truly bizarre moments of violence, as when a pair of gunfighters face each other and one blows a hole through the other's head, and Raimi's camera takes its point of view through the hole. Another occurs when a bullet goes through someone's chest and we see a shaft of light shining through the bullet hole.
Other off-the-wall elements include zoom-in closeups of the gunfighters' faces (in particular their eyes) as they prepare to stand off against one another, a variety of goofy background characters (none of them adequately developed) and that ominous clock tower, whose hands slowly click toward some unlucky gunslinger's doom.
Such moments could be crazily amusing in a wacky comic take on Westerns, but there's none of the sense of satire and amusement that Raimi brought to "Army of Darkness" or "Darkman." Instead, he seems all too reverent most of the time — especially toward his star. Of course, perhaps we should note that Stone is also a co-producer on the film . . . essentially Raimi's boss.
Of the performers, Hackman takes acting honors, doing what appears to be a darker twist on his Oscar-winning "Unforgiven" character. Also good are DiCaprio and Crowe. The most wasted is Sinise, seen only in flashbacks, which eventually take a dark and twisted turn.
"The Quick and the Dead" is stylish as all get out, but only about half as entertaining.
It's rated R for considerable violence, profanity, vulgarity and brief nudity.