QUEEN OF HEARTS is the third and final Hallmark Channel
movie in which Luke Perry played frontier judge John William Goodnight, a
character Perry created. In this one, Goodnight tangles with a beautiful female
con artist and a vengeful former colonel discharged from the army because of
his brutal methods. As usual, there’s plenty of action with a few heart-warming
moments along the way. A lot of the story takes place on a riverboat, one of my
favorite settings for Westerns.
I think this is my favorite of the three Goodnight movies. The script, while still pretty predictable, is more focused than the first one (which really meandered around) and less stereotypical than the second one. The production values seem a little higher, and it helped that there weren’t too many scenes in that touristy-looking Western town in Canada where so many Westerns have been filmed in the past 20 years. Also, the villain is a cast-against-type Rick Schroder playing the crazed colonel, and it’s good for Perry (who’s as stalwart as ever) to have somebody stronger to play against. The final slugfest/shootout between the two of them on the riverboat is excellent.
I liked this one enough that I’m sort of disappointed there weren’t more of them. As it is, it’s a worthy conclusion to the Goodnight series and well worth watching for Western fans.
I think this is my favorite of the three Goodnight movies. The script, while still pretty predictable, is more focused than the first one (which really meandered around) and less stereotypical than the second one. The production values seem a little higher, and it helped that there weren’t too many scenes in that touristy-looking Western town in Canada where so many Westerns have been filmed in the past 20 years. Also, the villain is a cast-against-type Rick Schroder playing the crazed colonel, and it’s good for Perry (who’s as stalwart as ever) to have somebody stronger to play against. The final slugfest/shootout between the two of them on the riverboat is excellent.
I liked this one enough that I’m sort of disappointed there weren’t more of them. As it is, it’s a worthy conclusion to the Goodnight series and well worth watching for Western fans.
1 comment:
Well written, well said. Will look to watch this, now that you have written such a good review.
Post a Comment