Conagher (1991)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

RELEASED TO TV IN 1991 and directed by Reynaldo Villalobos, "Conagher" stars Sam Elliott as taciturn noble cowboy, Conn Conagher, who contends with rustlers (Gavan O'Herlihy, et al.) while concerned about a struggling widow raising her two kids on a remote homestead (Katharine Ross). Although this was a Turner production (TNT), it doesn't seem like a TV movie and harkened the realistic Westerns that were to come, including TV Westerns like "Monte Walsh" (2003) and TV shows like Hell on Wheels. Of course realistic Westerns which illustrated the hard, mundane life of people in the Old West weren't anything new, as witnessed by movies like "Shane" (1953), "Will Penny" (1967), "Hombre" (1967) and "Bad Company" (1972), but there's something about "Conagher" that especially smacks of the way it really was, which is akin to "Son of the Morning Star," released earlier the same year. The quaint, mundane score helps in achieving this tone. While the music doesn't trip my trigger, as it's just too humdrum, it fits the feel of the film.For those not in the know, Elliott and Ross have been married since 1984, which probably helped with the palpable "love at first sight" element. Speaking of which, whilst this is a realistic Western about the many challenges of life in the Old West (sudden death, loneliness, hard outdoor work, the elements, Indian threats, corruption, outlaws, gunfights, etc.), there's a romantic component with Evie Teale (Ross) attaching snippets of poetry to tumbleweeds that Conn inevitably finds (unbeknownst to Evie). THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 34 minutes and was shot mostly in Arizona, but also Colorado (Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway). WRITERS: Louis L'Amour (novel) and Jeffrey M. Meyer (teleplay) with additional dialogue by Elliott and Ross.GRADE: B

This was a solid lower-key Louis L'Amour-written western, meaning a little bit less action than the normal film of its genre. The action scenes they did have in here were short, too.This is mainly a movie with several stories weaved in it: 1 - Cowhands slowly being sifted out as the times change and they are no longer needed; 2 - traitors among the main group, men who go to a competing gang of rustlers; 3 - a story of a lonely widow who has to take care of two kids after he husband disappears (killed).Katharine Ross is the mother ("Evie Teale") who turns cook at a lonely stagecoach stop that also is being eliminated. She is a good woman, and it's nice to see the female star of "Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid" still looking good out there is the prairie over 20 years later. Also refreshing to see was her young boy "Laban," one of the nicest, most respectful kids I've ever seen on film: the exact opposite of the many brats I've seen on film in the last quarter of the 20th century. Cody Braun was excellent as the son, and, that's the only movie role he ever played.The man "Evie" eventually falls for is the hero of the film, "Conagher," played by Sam Elliott. If anyone in the modern era of films ever looked like he was born to play a cowboy, it has to be Elliott. He has the weathered looks and the voice that go perfectly with westerns.Overall, this is another beautifully-photographed, nice story and a real "keeper" for those who love a good fim of this genre.

As far as books that become movies go, this is arguably the most faithful adaptation I've ever seen. This film follows L'Amour's novel of the same name so close that most of the dialog is word for word with the book. Like HONDO, also a L'Amour, the only parts left out of this film are minor pieces that had to be omitted because the film would be 4-5 hours long if every single scene was included. Even HONDO though, which is a wonderfully faithful adaptation doesn't follow as close as CONAGHER. The parts from the book that are left out are explained rather than shown.That being said, the film is in my opinion one of the great westerns of all time. Not THE best, but definitely worthy of mention among the best. Sam Elliott & real life wife Katherine Ross are excellent, as is the supporting cast, comprised of a who's who of western actors, including Barry Corbin, Buck Taylor, James Gammon, & Ken Curtis (who was actually one of John Ford's "boys"). I can't think of anything but praise for this film. If you're a fan of great westerns it's definitely for you, but also anyone who likes a good film of any kind where we have a hero not trying to be a hero, but rather just doing what he has to, you'll like it too.

I can hardly put into words ,my love for this movie.I have seen it at least 50 times.I wore out the first video and have started on my second one.I am a great fan of Louis L'amour and the making of this book into a film was one of the best things that could have happened,for me.The cast and crew could not have been better picked. The roles of Evie and Conagher could not have been better done than with the husband and wife team of Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross.I am transported to the old west every time I watch this movie.I suppose I like it so much because the book does the same thing when I read it.It is a movie to enjoy time and time again.