QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER

In the late 80s I had a crush on everything to do with Australia, even this now kinda-cheesy Western starring bushy-mustached Tom Selleck, of all people.

Selleck plays an American cowboy named Matthew Quigley who shows up on the shores of rough and tumble Wild West-era Australia. An Australian rancher (played by go-to bad guy Alan Rickman) has posted an international ad for the best sharpshooter around, but once Quigley arrives at his ranch, it becomes clear that Quigley hasn't been hired to kill errant kangaroos and other vermin from the land.

Director Simon Wincer has Western and horsey cred coming out of his ears when he made Quigley, with Lonesome Dove and Phar Lap under his belt. It sure shows in the action scenes, with Australia's dry, deserty landscape as great a setting as any American backdrop. The film is at its best in scenes like where Quigley first proves his sharpshooting skills by hitting a bucket seemingly miles away, or where he improvises a clever escape after being dropped supposedly unconscious in the middle of the desert. Like a modern American Western, Quigley also romanticizes the natives, in this case Australian Aboriginals. There is indeed a haunting, heartbreaking scene where the white ranchers literally run the natives off a cliff to their death. This would be unbelievable, if it weren't for the fact that this was actually done (probably in the U.S. as well, come to think of it).

The Western aspects alone are enough to recommend Quigley Down Under. Alas, some of the other bits are a bit cheesy and/or dated. Quigley reluctantly ends up babysitting Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo), an American woman who is completely out of her gourd, who has been passed from man to man. You know she is crazy because of her unkempt 80s hair (even though the film is technically from 1990). And there is the fact that she keeps calling Quigley by the name of her long-gone husband (a joke that gets old as quickly as Quigley's perturbed response). Of course throwing these two together is supposed to spark as a love interest, but the pairing always feels forced and cheesy... as cheesy as Selleck's Magnum P.I. mustache.

Despite some cliched characterizations, and a simperingly evil bad guy, Quigley is still a surprisingly entertaining Western. The Australian setting still seems fresh, and the story has a steady, if predictable pace. It may not have the dark grit of the more somber Westerns of late, but for a popcorn couch night, you could sure do a lot worse.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

The Blu-Ray includes an of-the-era behind-the-scenes featurette "The Rebirth of the Western" where Selleck discusses how it took years to get the story to the screen. Plus there is a theatrical trailer and some TV trailers. That's it!