Exhibit 'A' in defence of made-for-cable movies, HBO's "The Jack Bull" is nothing short of brilliant, and one of the finest westerns of the post-Leone era. Inspired by a true story surrounding Wyoming's ascention to statehood, John Cusack and Peckinpah veteran L.Q. Jones lock horns as arch enemies who will not rest until the other is taken down.
John Cusack is underestimated as a thespian because of his young face and an undeniable consistency to his characters--young, intelligent, angst-ridden, love-struck males who hesitate over every decision. He faces the same problem that Danny Devito does: they do what they do with such astonishing ease, and the public is so used to their faces, that it seems they aren't even acting at all.
Just as "The Big Kahuna" opened everyone's eyes to Devito's range, so too does "The Jack Bull" powerfully establish John Cusack as an actor to be reckoned with. The entire picture brims with passion and life, and Cusack's invested intensity is mesmerizing. Unquestionably, a source of inspiration for this magnificent performance must have been Cusack's father Dick, the author of the script.
No one but Dick will know how many scripts he has written in his lifetime, but for a public debut, "The Jack Bull" is miraculous. There can be no finer example of how you can make a "traditional" western without making a boring western. This script could have been filmed in 1940 with Henry Fonda at the helm, or perhaps a young L.Q Jones. As it stands in 1991, L.Q. shines as the old grizzled rancher, angry at the world and almost rich enough to buy it. Here is an actor who is as real as the dirt he walks on, and isn't afraid to pick it up and throw it in his partner's face. John Goodman also shines in a small but critical supporting role as the only honest judge in the soon-to-be state. It takes a man of considerable presence and stature to stand between Cusack and Jones and live to tell the tale.
John Badham is an infuriating director, the type that makes a great movie every ten years or so, then spends the other nine making crap. "Saturday Night Fever" and "The Jack Bull" can stand up against any Hollywood production, "The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings," and "The Hard Way" are top notch entertainment, and the other dozen are fairly forgettable. Like the Cusacks, Dick and John, this is Badham's first western and he shows admirable restraint, resisting the camera hot-dogging that many current directors familiar with the action genre cannot (Raimi, Hill). The strength of this film is clearly the actors, and Badham wisely lets them lead the way.
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