Quigley Down Under (1990)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Overrated

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Alan Rickman, a British actor of considerable talent, was so effective as the toothy, treacherous villain in "Die Hard" that he gets to play the same role here. This time he owns a huge ranch in Australia, has convict laborers, a gang of henchman, and bothersome Australian Aborigines who butcher an occasional cow. They're savages all right, just like the Comanche, but they're smart enough to stay just out of rifle range.Rickman is clever. None of these sneering, ruthless villains is ever truly stupid. He hires Matt Quigley, Tom Selleck, as an exterminator, although Selleck didn't know what the job entails. Selleck simply is the best long-distance shooter in the world and has a long, heavy, modified Sharps carbine to prove it. Why, with his supercharged cartridges and his complicated sighting mechanism, he can shoot holes in objects that are so far away that they're beyond the curve of the horizon.But when Rickman reveals the mission for which Selleck was hired -- namely killing every black man, woman, and child in sight -- he wordlessly scowls and throws Rickman through the dining room window. Now, Selleck is an engaging, lightweight actor, but this part -- the taciturn man of principle with unimaginable skills -- belongs to John Wayne.Rickman has his goons beat hell out of Selleck. They throw in a beating for Laura San Giacomo, who is there only to prove that Selleck is heterosexual. The two unconscious good people are taken by wagon a day's drive from the ranch and dumped to starve and die of thirst. The last of the two ruffians who have transported San Giacomo and Selleck makes the mistake of getting too close to Tom and bringing that big Sharps rifle. One hooligan down, by force of hidden knife. The other takes off at full speed in the wagon, while Selleck spends an agonizing minute or two getting himself together, loading the rifle, taking aim, almost passing out, and finally firing at a target so far away that it shimmers in the heat, like Omar Sheriff riding out the desert on his camel. Does Selleck hit his mark? Right through the head.There follows a drawn-out intermittent battle between Selleck and the girl, on the one hand, and Rickman and his snarling gang on the other. At one point, Selleck and San Giacomo fall exhausted into the dust, dying. They are rescued by Aborigines who apparently have the same spiritual healing power as the American Indians.The Aborigines have made Selleck and his rifle into an icon because he's protecting them from the predations of Rickman's men. Knowing this, Rickman baits a trap for Selleck by herding dozens of Aborigines to the edge of a cliff and kicking them off to their deaths, in hopes that Selleck will show up to rescue them. I realize this is so brutal that it sounds like a contrivance but it isn't. Check the fate of the aborigines in Tasmania, the ones who didn't survive to be kidnapped and transplanted to Flinder's Island, the ones who were rounded up and shot like animals in an attempt to exterminate them.Well -- why go on. I always get a kick out of a story about a man with almost superhuman skills. I identify with him because I have so many superhuman skills myself. And when Selleck's rocket-powered bullets hit those distant targets, there is a loud WHAP, the victim is yanked from his horse, and is dead before he hits the ground. Of course the bad guys do a lot of shooting too but they always miss.I don't think I need to tell you how it ends. Guess.

Granted this is not the old west, although it is set in Western Australia. Tom Selleck, in my opinion, was born a couple of decades late. It's too bad the romance with westerns has passed on, since Selleck could have easily been a contemporary of The Duke. His easy-going, "down home" style and charm work well in the western genre, and with the exception of Robert Duvall and Sam Elliot, I can't think of another star who fits the "cowboy" persona better. Well, maybe Eastwood.Laura San Giacomo works beautifully as the films female love interest and comedy relief, since neither Rickman or Selleck offer us much in that way. She gives us her story in brief episodes, the returns to the "Crazy Cora" persona long enough to convince us it isn't all an act. Or is it? Alan Rickman plays what he plays best, an arrogant ass with money and power who enjoys pulling the wings off butterflies when he isn't shooting down people for the fun of it. He uses money as his weapon, and indulges himself whenever possible. Since most of his men are conscripts from the local prison, Marston is of the belief he is untouchable.The aborigines have no lines in English, and are pretty much the window dressing of the film, although there are some interesting scenes where Selleck and the aborigines interact.Overall, the film has plenty of flaws and lapses, but they are easy to look past when you watch the action scenes. And neither Selleck for the ladies or San Giacomo for the gentlemen are that hard to look at. Rated PG-13 for violence and sexual innuendo, the teens in the house will have no problem with the plot and the adults will enjoy the various quibbles between the principles. Not sure if this is all that collectible, but I have a copy. Like I said, I like westerns, and I like Selleck.

Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) sails three months to Australia to fill a role as a sharpshooter. But once he finds out that he's been hired to kill off the aborigine population, Quigley turns on his new boss (Alan Rickman) and brings his own particular brand of justice to the outback.Alan Rickman makes this movie, hands down. Selleck is fine, but Rickman's voice and mannerisms make him the perfect villain. It's no shock he was given such a prominently dark role in the Harry Potter films or presented as the voice of God in "Dogma". I'm not so sure about "Space Quest" (not a fan), but Rickman is the man you want in your film, along with Gary Oldman. Together they would be an unstoppable force, stronger than Pacino and DeNiro.The biggest complaint is that this film should have been maybe twenty minutes shorter... the end drags on for some time. Okay, so you have thugs attacking you and you're a sharpshooter. I get it. Stop these endless skirmishes and just kill the bad guy. Please.Those who love Tom Selleck and his mustache should watch this film, perhaps as a double feature with "Gypsy Warrior". But even those who don't particularly care for Selleck may enjoy Rickman's performance as the evil thug master. Aside from his weird snarl, he easily steals the show.

One of the factors that can help us understand why westerns are so rare nowadays is that long ago there was a certain magic in the West. It is not there anymore, lost in the freeways of Los Angeles. What Quigley brings us with the Outback of Austrália is that mysterious magic of an unknown new world. Put that together with a great musical score, a fabulous performance by Tom Selleck, spectacular scenes with thousands of Aboríginials, a remarkable rifle that shoots from a great distance and you have one of the best westerns ever made. There is a scene where the dingoes, the wild dogs of Australia are threatening the desperate Laura San Giacomo with a baby. The villain, Alan Rickman has a fascination with the west and the Colt and he is impressed to know that Quigley has been to Dodge City. But Quigley, who thought that he was contracted to kill dingoes, will never accept what Marston (Rickman) wants to use him for. Don't miss this film.