The Jack Bull

Starring: John Cusack, John Goodman, John C. McGinley, L.Q. Jones
Directed by: John Badham
Rating: R
Western, TV
1999

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Traveling to sell some livestock in Wyoming, Myrl Redding (John Cusack) is stopped by a local land baron (L.Q. Jones) who insists he pay to cross his lands. After Redding leaves two horses and his Indian friend as collateral, he returns to find the horses beaten and starved and the Indian beaten and chased off. He demands justice, yet the law is corrupt and will not help him. Redding then takes justice into his own hands.

Review:

Tim: This film was produced and created for HBO. I normally do not review movies without a theatrical release, because the quality of made for television movies is rarely equal to the ones in theatres. However, with this film, I had to make an exception.

Before I say anything else, I want to say that this film should be called, "The John Bull." If you will excuse my horrible joke, the reason I made it is because the film stars John Cusack, John Goodman, and John C. McGinley. If that wasn't enough, its directed by John Badham. I bet I am the only reviewer in the world that picked up on this. Aren't you glad that you're here with me?

Ok, enough nonsense. This is obviously a Western and its a great movie. I would watch absolutely anything with John Cusack in it and that is why I first picked this film up. Cusack is wonderful as always.

The film jumps right into the story without much explanation or background. At times it felt difficult to grasp and relate to the story. Cusack's character is also just a little too perfect and a little too idealistic. The film was written by his father, Dick Cusack.

The script is decent enough- a honest horse breeder goes up against a selfish, greedy land owner who believes he is above the law. Its just a little story about law and justice, right and wrong in the West, but its told passionately and boldly. The film starts out slow, but gets really exciting after about 50 minutes.

Cusack is great in the film. It was nice seeing him in something different (a Western) and playing the hero, he also gets an opportunity to show his darker side and the darker side of justice. The ending is excellent, and the song closing out the film is beautiful. Listen for it! Definitely see this film- you will be amazed it was produced for television!

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Saturday Night Fever, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Being John Malkovich, Con Air, High Fidelity, Fallen