Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Gus Van Sant explores deeper into his favorite theme of the plight of the outsider in this strange film.Not perfect, but it is a faithful adaptation of Robbins' classic novel.Some scenes tend to drag, but the overall effect of the film is mesmerising. Sissy Hankshaw joins Van Sant's gallery of outsiders alongside Bob,Mike,Suzanne Stone,Will Hunting and Norman Bates. Lots of cool movie star cameos and great acting from Uma Thurman and Rain Phoenix while Lorraine Bracco, John Hurt and Angie Dickinson camp it up.

Uma Thurman is not a very good actress. She's tall, & reasonably attractive, & sometimes blonde, but she was the poster-girl for the Uber-hip set in the late 80's/early 90's so for that set, she was a perfect choice as Sissy Hankshaw. Having read & loved this book, I knew she was not a good choice, and she was subsequently was named Worst Actress of 1993 for her terrible attempt to portray Cissy. Likewise, Rain aka Rain- bow aka Rain Phoenix was also miscast, as well as not being talented enough to pull off the role of Boss Cowgirl Bonanza Jellybean. She seemed to be attempting to read off a Teleprompter, or maybe she should have been. Did I detect her lips moving before she attempted to deliver her lines? The reason she was not named Worst Actress of 1993 was that to win that award, she had to be an actress, which she clearly is not. I've seen better acting on an X-rated channel. Angie Dickinson, that 60's-70's retread hearthrob of teenage males was nearly as bad as Phoenix & Thurman, but she had an excuse, she hadn't worked for many years, & was critically hungover. At least she seemed that way. That's the bad news. The good news is, the rest of the cast was a hoot! Batting leadoff, the always weird & wonderful Carol Kane & Buck Henry(why don't those two have children?? What a great idea), John Hurt in drag, Crispin Glover, Pat Morita(as Noryuki)as The Chink("Ha Ha Ho Ho and Hee Hee!!"), Sean Young looking so sexy I almost forgot about her psychotic meltdown over James Woods, Keanu Reeves was entirely adequate as Julian Gitchee, but any one of a number of Native American, Canadian, or Ecuadoran actors would have been a better choice, such as the lovely & talented Gary Farmer. Two other bones to pick: 1) Tom Robbins' favorite Native American tribe, is not pronounced See-Wash, but Sigh-wash and B) Why was the locale moved from the Dakotas to Deschutes County, Oregon? Stupid idea. I really loved Pat Morita & John Hurt, but their performances are not enough to tempt me to watch this terrible movie again. Like an earlier reviewer, anger is my strongest emotion at this attempt to adapt a really good book.

Certainly one of the dozen or so worst movies ever released in any form, featuring a bizarrely abominable performance by Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix (River's sister, inevitably), as Bonanza Jellybean plus inconceivably awful voiceover narration by Tom Robbins, the author of the novel, which had/retains its peculiar sweet/loopy charms.

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