Wow, what a quirky western. It's almost comic-book-type put-on for most of the film and then it turns into a sad story at the end.
Most of the actors in this star-studded cast are in cameo roles, the best being Stacy Keach's "Bad Bob." He seems to be about everyone's favorite character in this film, and justifiably so.
The storyline: Bean (Newman) almost gets killed visiting this one-horse town out in the middle of lawless El Paso, then gets his revenge on the people who roughed him up, and takes over the town which is really nothing but this one building! He appoints himself judge, obtains a few "marshals," and then brings an assortment of crooks and strange people in to be hanged. It's just one long parade of strange characters, either passing by or hanging around (literally).
There are subplots involving (1) Bean's obsession with the famous Lily Langtree, and (2) what happens when the town grows immensely and things change drastically, such as the people wanting a little bit more of a democracy that what Judge Roy Bean had been offering.
This is an intriguing movie that is hard to define. The major negative to the film was that it got kind of silly and ran out of gas in the last half hour, except for the Langtry storyline. Too bad, because in the end you go away thinking....."Man, I was having so much fun watching this and then........"
Most of the actors in this star-studded cast are in cameo roles, the best being Stacy Keach's "Bad Bob." He seems to be about everyone's favorite character in this film, and justifiably so.
The storyline: Bean (Newman) almost gets killed visiting this one-horse town out in the middle of lawless El Paso, then gets his revenge on the people who roughed him up, and takes over the town which is really nothing but this one building! He appoints himself judge, obtains a few "marshals," and then brings an assortment of crooks and strange people in to be hanged. It's just one long parade of strange characters, either passing by or hanging around (literally).
There are subplots involving (1) Bean's obsession with the famous Lily Langtree, and (2) what happens when the town grows immensely and things change drastically, such as the people wanting a little bit more of a democracy that what Judge Roy Bean had been offering.
This is an intriguing movie that is hard to define. The major negative to the film was that it got kind of silly and ran out of gas in the last half hour, except for the Langtry storyline. Too bad, because in the end you go away thinking....."Man, I was having so much fun watching this and then........"