Lou Diamond Phillips is a Navajo police officer who has just transferred to Tuba City, Arizona. While staking out a windmill that has been repeatedly vandalized, he sees a small single-engine plane crash nearby. The plane appears to have been smuggling drugs, and Phillips falls under suspicion by the FBI when they determine that some drugs are missing from the plane. Phillips investigates on his own, and the case seems to tie into two he's been investigating ... the theft of some jewelry from shop owner John Karlen and an unidentified body found in the desert.
This adaptation of Tony Hillerman's novel is Errol Morris's first, and to this day only, non-documentary film. The film is pretty bad, but it's unclear who is to blame since Morris walked off the film after clashing with producer Robert Redford. (Redford had planned a series of films based on Hillerman's books, but the failure of this film put the kibosh on his plans.) It's not a terrible film, but the pace is very sluggish and several plot elements are opaque, which actively discourages any interest in the plot. Phillips does a good job, as do Gary Farmer and Fred Ward in key supporting roles, but it's a really remarkably unengaging film.
This adaptation of Tony Hillerman's novel is Errol Morris's first, and to this day only, non-documentary film. The film is pretty bad, but it's unclear who is to blame since Morris walked off the film after clashing with producer Robert Redford. (Redford had planned a series of films based on Hillerman's books, but the failure of this film put the kibosh on his plans.) It's not a terrible film, but the pace is very sluggish and several plot elements are opaque, which actively discourages any interest in the plot. Phillips does a good job, as do Gary Farmer and Fred Ward in key supporting roles, but it's a really remarkably unengaging film.