David_Brown Review of The Cowboy and the Movie Star

The Cowboy and the Movie Star (1998 TV Movie)

Classic Modern Day Western

[10/10 · 4 August 2012]

This is a very difficult picture to find (Despite being from 1988), because it came from "The Family Channel" and it is not on DVD. But it is a great film, with tremendous attention to detail, including using an Australian Cattle Dog on the round-up (Most film makers would use a German Shepherd and call it a day). What I really like is the relationship between the actress Sean Livingston (Sean Young), and the cowboy Clint Brannan (Perry King), and how these characters really depend on each other to survive. Major Spoilers ahead: She is involved in a bad relationship with a fellow actor (Who she finds out is married), and he is being sued for divorce by his wife Liz (Rochelle Swanson) so she can escape the ranching business, and become a movie star. They meet when in a remote area of California, she crashes her car, and he picks her up and agrees to bring her back to civilization, but after the drive is over. She is a total fish out of water, and stuff like bad weather and poor food is not exactly her lifestyle, and he has to teach her how to adjust. It all changes when he saves her from a grizzly attack, but the bear scratch causes blood poisoning, and eventually pneumonia, so she has to become the leader (Walking while he rides, and surviving the elements). They finally get back to civilization and Liz actually has the audacity to give him Divorce Papers while he is in a hospital bed, and saying "Sean looks so much better in the movies" (At least have the decency to wait until he is out of the hospital, and appreciate what she did (What a B***H)). At the end, he signs papers selling half of the ranch to someone (It was executed by an Attorney), but who shows up but Sean, with the land deed who says "You can take me back to town, or teach me to ranch." Of course, they will live happily ever after. I love the way the Sean learned from Clint about how to survive (She always had to rely on others), and that when she was forced by circumstances to do so, she could not only do so, but do it successfully, and thus make it her life as well. Without Sean, the legacy of the Brannan Family ranching will die with Clint (The round-up where he met Sean was going to be the last), but since together they own the land, it can continue for generations to come. A absolute classic film 10/10 stars without any thought involved.