Monte Walsh (2003)
| Monte Walsh | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Directed by | Simon Wincer |
| Produced by | Steven Brandman |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on |
Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Eric Colvin |
| Cinematography | David Eggby |
| Edited by | Alan Baumgarten |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Turner Network Television (TNT) |
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Release date
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January 17, 2003 |
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Running time
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117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Monte Walsh is a 2003 Western television film directed by Simon Wincer and starring Tom Selleck, Isabella Rosellini, and Keith Carradine. Loosely based on the 1963 Western novel Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer, the film is about two long-time cowboys whose solitary and predictable lives on the range are inexorably changed when a fellow cowhand becomes involved with rustling and killing. Set in Wyoming and filmed in Alberta, Canada, Monte Walsh is a remake of the 1970 theatrical film Monte Walsh, starring Lee Marvin. The script is nearly word-for-word identical to the original (original screenwriters David Zelag Goodman and Lukas Heller are credited) and a lot of set-ups and shots are the same as well, but Selleck plays a much more amiable and kind Walsh, to the point that some of the harsher lines attributed to Marvin's Walsh are given to other characters to soften the title character's personality to match Selleck's more affable style. In 2003, Monte Walsh received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, and in 2004, the film received the Western Heritage Awards Bronze Wrangler for Outstanding Television Feature Film.
Montelius "Monte" Walsh (Tom Selleck) is an aging cowboy facing the final days of the Wild West era. He and his friend Chet Rollins (Keith Carradine), another long-time cowhand, work at whatever ranch work comes their way, but "nothing they can't do from a horse". Their lives are divided between months on the range and the occasional trip into town. Camaraderie and competition with the other cowboys fill their days. They seek work and take a job at the ranch of Cal Brennan (William Devane), where they meet an old friend, Shorty Austin (George Eads), another ranch hand.
Monte has a long-term relationship with an old flame, prostitute and saloon girl "Countess" Martine Bernard (Isabella Rossellini), who suffers from tuberculosis. Chet, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Mary Wilder (Lori Hallier), a widow who owns a hardware store. As barbed wire and railways steadily eliminate the need for the cowboy, Monte and his friends are left with fewer and fewer options. New work opportunities are available to them, but the freedom of the open prairie is what they long for. Shorty loses his job and gets involved in rustling and killing, gunning down a local lawman. Then Monte and Chet find that their lives on the range are inexorably redirected.
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