Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, Morgan Freeman, Zach Braff, Emile Hirsch, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kate Katzman, Eddie Griffin, Chris Mullinax, Patrick Muldoon, Julie Lott, Blerim Destani, Vincent Spano, Paul Witten, Aighleann McKiernan, Melissa Greenspan, Joel Michaely, Jermaine Washington, Desiree Geraldine, Morse Bicknell, Danno Hanks.
Like the Blues, it seemed inevitable that the days of the Western movie being cinematic gold had long since departed in a wave of nostalgia and fond memories, and whilst the audience might miss the gun smoke, the sense of identifying with the lone pioneer of days long past, the constant signalling and portrayal of the Native American people as the casting villain, the rampant stereotyping, and negativity is something that is not missed at all.
Like the Blues, the western made an unexpected comeback, perhaps down to the appeal and incredible writing to be found in the television series Deadwood, and to even place an element of the genre in a film today assures that audiences will find that nostalgia is alive and well, the yearning to breath fresh air and acknowledge the feeling inside the mind and heart that adventure, that the risk of creating the lonely trail, is a right for anyone who misses the days when adventure was undertaken at your own risk, when the rewards to be found were staggering.
To satirise the time, even in kindness, in humour and with the ability to take it out of its time via the long con, is also a right, and like Mel Brook’s deeply enjoyable comedy, The Producers, can be seen to highlight the disparity between success and failure, so the George Gallo and Josh Posner remake of the 1982 Harry Hurwitz film The Comeback Trail brings the genre, the long con and the opportunist together, and with a cast that includes arguably three of the big hitters of cinema in front and centre roles, Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman, the recipe for success is one not to be ignored.
The beauty of the film, aside from its acknowledgement of the western genre, is in the delivery of the message that the fallacy of believing that when people reach a certain age, they become unviable to society, that the 1970s was not as forward thinking as it made itself out to be, and that a remake has no place in art. It is in these aspects that the film jumps off the screen and provides all three stars a glorious staring role, but also one that provides the likes of Zach Braff, Kate Katzman and Eddie Griffin a sizeable portion of the action and intended triumph of the film.
The Comeback Trail maybe a remake, but it is one that is presented with charm and honours the original with satisfied humility, and whilst the main objective of the joke is to imagine Tommy Lee Jones has not been seen in any cinematic production for a couple of decades, in such a way that was alluded to with the original star of the film, the legendary Buster Crabbe, the overall effect of the piece leaves the viewer basking in the reflected light of nostalgia and the fun to be had with proving people wrong.
A fine film, unpretentious, gratifying, smile-inducing, The Comeback Trail finds its way home.
Ian D. Hall