Lewis & Clark & George (1997)

Fresh and Exciting

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

"Lewis & Clark & George" is a road movie/crime thriller/black comedy about two scumbags who escape from a New Mexican prison, Lewis (Salvator Xuereb) and Clark (Dan Gunther), the former's a murdering psycho with a charismatic spirit and the latter's a computer geek. The escapees immediately start searching for a gold treasure in a lost mine whereupon they hook up with literal gold-digger George (Rose McGowan), who happens to be mute.The movie has that quirky, "hip" flare of movies of the mid-to-late 90s, like "Pulp Fiction," "Michael," "Mojave Moon," "The Way of the Gun" and "American Psycho." If you have a taste for these types of films you might like "Lewis & Clark & George," which I find better than all of 'em except the first two.The fact that the two main protagonists are criminal scum and George isn't much nobler works against the movie because it's impossible to root for them, but the film makes up for it in numerous ways. For one, it is consistently amusing and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, like the massacre of a group of annoying vacationers. Once you get the joke, you're able to kick back and enjoy the zaniness despite the characters' moral offensiveness. Secondly, the style of the film is entertaining, including the cool soundtrack (I realize describing it as "cool" is lame, but I didn't want to use "hip" again; and "pop" doesn't quite fit). Thirdly, there are at least two quality females in the cast with the focus on McGowan's character. Although George is an increasingly despicable character, Rose is certainly a uniquely alluring and curvy woman and she's in her prime here. Needless to say, this film's a must for McGowan fans. The other female is Paula Sorge as the lonely and hyper-sexed trailer trash. Fourthly, the climax offers a fitting ending for the ignoble "protagonists."Another comparison would be 1966's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as both films take place in the American West, are very stylized, and feature three characters vying for treasure with the inevitable mishaps and double-crosses thereof. The differences being that "Lewis & Clark & George" takes place in the modern day and one of the three protagonists is a (hot) woman (there are, incidentally, zero notable women in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), not to mention the movie's only half as long at 83 minutes, which is a good thing in my book as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is definitely overlong, good (bad and ugly) as it is.The film was shot in SW New Mexico, specifically Hillsboro, Kingston and Truth or Consequences.GRADE: B

'Lewis & Clark & George' definately fits into a nitch- that of the black comedy road movie- but it does a good job of fulfilling the requirements of said nitch without becoming too generic. Rose McGowan is George, a gorgeous, deadly and mute young woman with a lot of tricks up her leopard-print sleeves. She has stolen a rare snake from a zoo, leaving her boyfriend to the devices of a mad bowler who proceeds to pursue her for the rest of the film. Not every character in this movie is a moron, as has been asserted. You can be pretty sure that George, at least, has a triple-digit I.Q. Lewis and Clark are a pair of escaped convicts, as different from each other as can be. Lewis is blond, illiterate, (it's a running joke that he keeps encountering and faking out other illiterate people,) and a cheerful murderer. Clark is dark-haired, a computer nerd, and would seem to have the sense of self-preservation Lewis lacks if not for the way he falls for George like a ton of bricks. They all share the desire to find a Mexican gold mine. There aren't any big mysteries here, except maybe how Rose managed to stay so pale shooting almost the whole movie in near-desert conditions. Fairly predictable things happen. It's a fairly predictable movie. Nonetheless, at least this predictable movie is fun while it lasts.

I've never understood why movie-makers are so fascinated by idiots who kill people for no apparent reason. Personally I find idiots who kill people for no apparent reason about as interesting as slugs, and there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that this movie would have been *WAY* more interesting and rewarding if slugs had been substituted for all the principle characters.

The film starts out slow but changes as soon as Rose McGowan,a.k.a. George appears. The acting is pure brilliance. I have never seen anyone who could make such a character as believable as she has. The plotline was very,very thin but I believe that the acting saved the movie. If you're looking for great acting and to KILL a little time then this is the film for you.