Wild Bill (1995)

You don't have to wait long in Wild Bill (United Artists, R) to learn how James Butler Hickok (Jeff Bridges) earned his nickname. This vivid Western from writer-director Walter Hill (The Long Riders, 48 Hrs.) begins by galloping through the early exploits of the legendary gunslinger, an hombre so ornery he'd shoot a man just for touching his hat. Yet most of the action occurs during Hickok's final days, as the opium-smoking, glaucoma-stricken marksman reflects on his life. Wild Bill succeeds as a character study of a man whose idiosyncratic code of justice eventually catches up with him. Bridges' performance is a masterstroke of squinty-eyed bitterness, and he gets colorful support from Ellen Barkin (as kitten with a whip Calamity Jane) and John Hurt (as a dissipated British dandy). Unlike your average Kevin Costner horse opera, Wild Bill doesn't try to turn the Old West into a myth or a metaphor. Nor is it overlong, clocking in at a lean, mean 97 minutes. But too-brief glimpses of a variegated cast ranging from pop-culture curios Christina Applegate and Marjoe Gortner to seasoned character actors Keith Carradine and Bruce Dern make you wonder whether Hill left an even richer film on the cutting-room floor. B+