Reel Time Classics

Starting early next week my sister blog will be up and going. This site will be at www.reeltimeclassics.blogspot.com and be host to film reviews for older films, films you may not have heard of or seen. Be sure to tune in each week for new reviews and commentary if you are a fan of older films.

The Lone Ranger (2013) ***

U.S. Release Date: July 3, 2013

Running Length: 2:29

Rated: PG-13 (Violence)

Cast: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale, Helena Bonham Carter, Barry Pepper

Director: Gore Verbinski

Screenplay: Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Russio

Gore Verbinski has an uphill battle when it comes to marketing and getting audiences to fall in love with his latest film The Lone Ranger. For one it is a western and as such is not a particularly popular genre of film for the young audiences that generally pack movie theaters during the summer months. For another it has a relatively unknown in the title role. Armie Hammer has a few films under his belt but he has yet to carry a big budget film like this and it shows in his slightly drab straight-man performance. It helps that he is succeeding the role from the late Clayton Moore who was also stiff in the original series. Another big hurtle is the lack of familiarity modern youth have with the source material. The Lone Ranger ran on television in the late 40's and early '50's. It has rarely been seen on the small screen since the late '70's or early '80's which makes it somewhat inaccessible to today's popcorn crowd. The sole selling point for this film is Johnny Depp, traditionally a big box office draw although not always as last years Dark Shadows seemed to prove. Depp certainly keeps things lively but his performance as Tonto is nothing more than another variation of Pirate Jack Sparrow in Native American garb and face paint.

The story treads some familiar ground for this type of a film. It's all about the railroad and a group of evil men who are determined to take the rails through Indian territory by staging raids that they blame on the Comanches so that they can justify going to war and seizing the land. Thrown into the mix is a rich silver mine and a back story that ties Tonto into things so as to give him personal stakes in the outcome of things. The rest of the story is made up of the back story of The Lone Ranger told much like it was in the first three episodes of the series, changing only a few things to tie it into the overall story of this film. The final element is a love triangle between the ranger, his brother and his brothers wife. There is very little back story to flesh this part out leaving it a little ineffective and feeling like an afterthought.

The film plays out well during the first half hour. There is plenty of action here and more than a little humor, most of it at the expense of The Lone Ranger. But then the film shifts tonally and turns deadly serious when one of the main villains Butch Cavendish, played perfectly by the nearly unrecognizable William Fichtner, kills the ranger's brother by cutting out his heart and eating it. It happens off screen but it is still brutal and a bit off-putting in the otherwise light-hearted first act. From here the film flounders about trying to juggle scenes of pure silliness with ones of seriousness. Case in point: late in the film there is an action sequence where The Lone Ranger is ties and blindfolded on a railroad car. This car is being pushed down the track by Tonto on a hand cart. All around them arrows are flying and missing these two. This is played up for all it's silliness. This scene is intercut with a Calvary mowing down Comanches with Gatling guns, massacring a whole tribe of Native Americans. This stuff is played dead serious and clashes with the comedic scenes with The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Fortunately these awkward juxtapositions are only occasional and don't completely derail this film. It does make the film drag a little during the middle third of the film, though.

Then the big finale begins. This moment is by far the best in the film and the only time during the entire two and a half hours where it really feels like a Lone Ranger film. It is marked by the sudden, and loud, playing of the William Tell Overture that opened every episode of the television series. When that music starts playing the film suddenly becomes all light hearted action again and the energy level goes up substantially. There is a lot of explosions in that finale and even though the action is well beyond anything resembling realism it is still fun to watch. The only sour note is when it is all over and we finally get the traditional "High Ho, Silver," it is played up for laughs as Tonto cuts in and says, "Don't ever do that again." It undermines that moment and is a poor way to depict that iconic line.

Still the overall movie is far from unwatchable. It is overlong by about twenty minutes and has at least one too many detours in the story but it never gets boring. And right about the two hour mark that William Tell Overture kicks in and reminds you of what movie you are watching and almost makes you want to stand up and cheer, at least if you were a fan of the series and knew what that music meant. It is a rollicking good ride that needed some more tonal focus and a little bit more editing but is still worth watching in the end.

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi-yo Silver" - the Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!