Lonesome Dove
(1989)CAST OF THOUSANDS Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones (pictured, with Anjelica Huston), Robert Urich, Danny Glover, D.B. Sweeney, Diane Lane, William Sanderson, Chris Cooper, Glenne Headly, Frederic Forrest, Steve Buscemi
BREAKOUT STAR Rick Schroder, in his first genuine grown-up role, as greenhorn trail hand Newt
MINI-SUMMARY Retired Texas Rangers Gus McCrae (Duvall) and Woodrow Call (Jones) lead a 2,500-mile cattle drive from Texas to Montana, where Gus' old flame, Clara (Huston), lives.
HIGHLIGHTS The raid against the Mexican bandits; Gus' climactic exit scene
IMPACT A surprise hit that helped keep the Western alive on TV, Lonesome Dove burnished the reputations of everyone associated with it — Larry McMurtry, who wrote the novel on which it was based, and Duvall, who said that he considers this his finest performance.
FOLLOW-UP A non-McMurtry-sanctioned sequel, Return to Lonesome Dove (1993), featured Jon Voight and Barbara Hershey as Call and Clara. The Call role passed to James Garner in the McMurtry-penned sequel Streets of Laredo (1995). Set decades earlier, McMurtry's prequel, Dead Man's Walk (1998), features unlikely stars David Arquette (Gus), Jonny Lee Miller (Call), and Jennifer Garner (Clara).
EW GRADE B+
