Angel and the Badman (2009)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

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

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I am a huge fan of John Wayne and it goes without saying that I view any remake with a jaundiced eye. However, I am a big fan of Lou diamond Phillips and Jeff Bridges and feel both of them can play any Western that the Duke did. The problem with this remake in my opinion is the supporting cast. Phillips took the Quirt Evans role and made it his own and did not try to be a 2009 version of John Wayne. Alas, Deborah Kara Unger was very difficult to watch and totally unbelievable as a Quaker woman that a Bad Man would fall in love with and give up his world for. What happened to her beautiful looks anyway? In this movie she looked like a saloon tramp that has been "Rode Hard and Put Up Wet." Instead of a soft and warm woman that could melt the heart of even the hardest of men. Of all the TV actresses out there this was the best they could do? There was no chemistry even when they tried to force some in the kissing scene and it looked like a brother and sister kissing. Also, the father character wasn't too bad in his role, but the mother was not very good. I liked the Marshall and the Duke's grandson did a pretty good job as Randy, but the saloon girl Maggie left a lot to be desired and looked like she was forcing her lines. Kudos go to Luke Perry as Laredo, but those two sidekicks of his could have been portrayed by wooden statues. I laughed out loud when the Carson character uttered the line "...he had more money than he needed." when Quirt brought him to the Quaker home. Couldn't the writer(s) have come up with a better alternative to the water problem than overcharging for rent of a store? Three stars for Phillip's interpretation and one for Perry with the Duke's nephew and the Marshall character sharing one for their style.

Naturally, those who have practically deified John Wayne will not look with favor on any remake of his films, but this handsome color version has much more authentic period flavor than the original one of simple Hollywood hokum. Since I was never a great fan of Wayne's and was only favorably impressed by one performance of his (as the outright racist and sadistic bastard in "The Searchers") I can judge this film on its own merits without referring to Wayne's earlier version.Phillips is convincing in the role of the hard-bitten gunny who unwillingly reforms when his head is turned by the esteem of a good woman. It gradually develops that his heart is eventually turned, too. Now that he has matured he actually achieves more gravitas than in some of his better known younger roles. The supporting roles are well-drawn, especially (Sam) Winston Reckert and the nasty one-eyed piece of work (Laredo) aptly played by an almost unrecognizable Luke Perry.

This remake of the John Wayne-Gail Russell original is only partially successful.Rebecca Unger, who portrays Temperance in this film, does just that with her performance. She has tempered it down a lot. You want her to evoke some emotion despite the fact that she portrays a Quaker woman.Lou Diamond Philips has certainly matured and is now older from his days of La Bamba and Stand By Me.The story of a gunfighter who is reformed by a Quaker woman that he meets while recovering from wounds is always interesting but there still needs to be more action here. By the way, how did Temperance really get hurt in the fire? She didn't appear to be shot and was out of the house before she would inhale that much smoke.Kudos to Maggie, the dance hall woman who belts out "You're Not the Man I Used to Know" in a way that the late Peggy Lee would have done.

Nobody does it better. I repeat, NOBODY, does it better than The Duke. Don't bother watching this until you can see it for free. John Wayne is The Ultimate Cowboy! Nobody does it better! Nobody ever did it better! Nobody ever will do it better! To try and copy him is a fools errand.If you wanna watch LaBamba, Lou Diamond Phillips is the perfect choice. If you wanna see teenage cowpunks go bad and shoot up town after town, he can get the job done. If you wanna see teenage punks screw up in high school and make the teacher look like an idiot, he's pretty good at that, too.Remake a John Wayne film?!?!? NO WAY!