05/03/06 Quigley Down Under

Quigley Down Under (1990), directed by Simon Wincer

watched w/ Leslie, Rebecca and Mom; DVD (family's copy) @ parents' house (Southern Pines, NC)

It seems to be the week of off-kilter westerns. In this one, Tom Selleck stars as American sharpshooter Quigley, who is hired by and travels to meet wealthy Australian rancher named Marston (Alan Rickman, who's not only a superb villain, but also Leslie's favorite actor). Upon arriving in this new wide-open country, Quigley soon learns of Marston's evil plan to rid his land of the native Aboriginal tribes by killing them and using Quigley as his marksman to do so. Infuriated by this request, Quigley fights and offends his way out of favor with the rancher, picks up a doting American woman who constantly calls him by her ex-husband's name of Roy, and battles all the evil henchmen across the outback to stay alive. Quigley begins his quest to save all the Aboriginal people he can, while saving his own hide by playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Marston's men. All the evils of the Australian outback are no match for the sheer determination of Quigley...bring on the harsh summer weather, the treacherous rocks & caverns, hunters hungry for human prey, and let's not forget the dingoes. If your not careful, dingoes will eat your baby. Lots of action, but with a continual social commentary as the basis for the action, with just enough comic relief to not be completely tragic...it's a bit "Crocodile Dundee" meets "Hotel Rwanda." Yeah, that's a strange intersection there, I know. However, the film was enjoyable albeit hokie. I kept waiting for Quigley to jump into his red sports car & Hawaiian shirt and bust up some bad guys, waiting for T.C. to come and save him in his chopper.

3 out of 5 stars