King of Texas (2002)
In this re-imagining of Shakespear's King Lear, Patrick Stewart stars as John Lear, a Texas cattle baron, who, after dividing his wealth among his three daughters, is rejected by them.
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Perfectly adorable
Crappy film
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
A lean version of King Lear set in the wild west frontier. Local landowner John Lear gives his land to two of his daughters and banishes the third and quickly descends into madness and realises the folly of his decision.Two of the daughters engage in a blood lust where they plan to go to war with their Mexican neighbour for a land grab.Patrick Stewart seems to be enjoying this version of Lear, Roy Schneider brings dignity as friend and neighbour and one of the few sympathetic characters in this adaptation.The film is accessible but what lets it down is the Made for Television look. It looks cheap despite a starry cast and some of the violent scenes are toned down or abruptly cut.
. . . Better than Mel Gibson doing "Hamlet." Good performances all around, especially by Stewart. It is unfortunate, however, that nothing could be done about his accent. Stewart has a fine voice. Trouble is he's, well, English. I think they would have been better off leaving things as they were. The Southwestern overlay sometimes distracted from the dialog by generating unintentional humor. If I could buy a Frenchman named "Jean Luc" with an English accent for seven years on TV, I'd probably be willing to accept an English landowner in North America. There were enough of them, after all. Accents notwithstanding, the film is well worth seeing. The plot line remains intact and the direction is solid. I hope it makes it to DVD.
The film does a fair job showing the effect of madness on Lear, but a more gradual descent would've been better. The film's best work is done in showing that the madness takes hold as his role as a father is peeled away, and shows in him this lack of a connective identity, which Shakespeare seemed to suggest could lead to madness in any person.The film also does well in showing Westmore as a mirror of Lear, so it's worth watching---once.The post-Alamo setting seems silly to me, as it reminds me too much of TNT's "Ebenezer", their poor 1997 old-west adaptation of "A Christmas Carol." I feel the film would've been better in a modern setting, with Lear as business executive, let's say.The source is classic, and the acting is good, but it's misplacement can't be overcome enough to call it an excellent film.
Excellent performance by all actors, most especially Patrick Stewart. The emotional range is wide. Very moving film indeed. A film worth watching.