In honor of Mr. Gene Hackman passing away recently, I thought I'd review one of my favorites where he plays the bad guy. It didn't have great reviews at the time of its release. But it has gained some praise in later years. The first film I ever saw withe Gene Hackman in it was Superman where he played a lovable version of Lex Luthor. In this film he plays the villain John Herod properly, a man the audience is supposed to hate.
I enjoy the parallels in this film to Christianity; John Herod, and a town named Redemption. Sharon Stone plays a female gunslinger riding into an Arizona town called Redemption, which is run by a man that used to be a ruthless outlaw and is more or less trying to retire. Herod is holding a quick draw contest and Sharon's character that is only known as "The Lady" wants to join.
As audience members, we can sense that The Lady has some kind of history with the cocky Herod. In flashbacks, we find out that her father was the town sheriff of Redemption and Herod and gang killed him with his little girl who is named Ellen and is now "The Lady" all grown up, watching. A former member of Herod's gang is Cort, now a preacher from a nearby town who is said to be extremely good at shooting, is played very well by Russell Crowe.
Sharon was fresh off the success of Basic Instinct when she signed on as co-producer and to play the lead role. Sony, as the production company, was hesitant about Crowe and a young, inexperienced Leonardo DiCaprio to play "The Kid" a cocky, young gunslinger that is supposed to be Herod's unclaimed son. But Stone was confident in the choices and even agreed to pay for DiCaprio's salary.
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