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We begin the movie
by becoming acquainted with a mysterious woman we know only as The Lady.
(Later on we'll even more mysteriously learn her name.) She's not your
typical woman of the West. No bonnets and ankle length dresses for her.
She's strictly cowboy hats, tight leather pants, and a shiny gun in her
belt. The Lady's destination is the small hamlet of Redemption,
the dustiest town this side of the Mississippi. Redemption is made up of
the main thoroughfare, a graveyard, and . . . um, well actually that's
about all you see of Redemption. How does this town stay financially afloat?
What do the people do for a living? Perhaps they cultivate dust, of which
there is an abundant supply.
But there is one thing Redemption boasts of, and that is a quick draw competition that pulls in gunfighters of all ilk, including The Lady.
The contest is sponsored by the town's dictator, John Herod. (Get it; Herod, Redemption, the Bible. Of course you get it. Who couldn't get it?) Herod lives in the biggest house in town. It may possibly be the only house in town. He's always immaculately dressed in black and surrounded by his bodyguards. Kind of makes you think of Michael Jackson.
The Lady takes a back room at the saloon, the largest (and possibly the only one) in town. It's a huge saloon for such a small town, but it's an important meeting place for all the other colorful characters that will populate this film. For instance, we'll meet a young man known as The Kid. He runs the town's gun shop. (We hear references to other places in town that also sell guns, but we never see them and frankly I think the townsfolk are just imagining things. Must be all that dust they're inhaling.) The Kid may be Herod's illegitimate son, but Herod never admits to anything. We also meet Blind Boy, who runs a sort of early version of Wal Mart out of his cart. You name it, he's got it. I wonder if he's got a vidcap of himself, as I seem not to have made one.
There are also other gunfighters with actual names, but you're not here for them, you're here for Russell Crowe, so let's get right to it. In a place populated by people known simply as The Lady and The Kid, Russell would have fit in nicely as The Man. But he's already played The Man in The Silver Stallion, so in this film he'll have to settle for a name: Cort. Is Cort his first name or his last name? Your guess is as good as mine.
From the moment you first see Cort, you know he's a damn fine looking man -- I'm sorry, I meant to say he obviously doesn't want to be there. The chains on his wrist kind of give it away. Cort, a reformed gunfighter, was happy preaching at his little mission until Herod's henchmen Ratsy and Foy burned the mission down, shackled Cort in chains and forced him to come to Redemption. Herod and Cort apparently have a history together.
Herod wants Cort in the contest. Cort has renounced violence and an authentic American accent. Herod then plays a wicked game in which Cort is strung up by a noose and forced to stand on a rickety chair. Herod slowly shoots away at the chair, trying to make Cort capitulate, but Cort stands by his newfound values.
Just as the chair is
about to give way and we say Adios, Cort, The Lady skillfully shoots at
the rope above the man's head, saving his life. (Remember this scene, it
will be important later on.) Both Cort and The Lady are signed up for the
contest. In celebration, the denizens of the saloon start shooting off
their firearms indoors. Boy, I hope no one was up on the second floor of
this saloon.
The next day the contest officially begins. There's a whole bunch of gunfights, but instead of wasting your time with them, let's get to the nitty gritty, namely Cort.
Herod takes the preacher to The Kid's shop to buy a gun for him. This is one of my favorite scenes because of the small things Russell does to show us what his character is thinking and feeling. It's here that Cort's resolve begins to weaken. As The Kid demonstrates his wares, you can see Cort being pulled back into that violent world by the way the sun glints off the barrel of a gun, the sound of the chamber spinning, and the feel of the weapon in his hand. It's best portrayed when Herod and The Kid both look away for a moment, allowing Cort to quickly reach out and reverently stroke the silver butt of an impressive gun.
But alas, Cort doesn't get that gun. Instead, he gets a $5 piece of crap and one bullet. Now, let's get to some shooting!
His first showdown is with Foy, he of the stringing up just a minute ago. Although he said he wouldn't, Cort does fire his gun and wins his round. Foy isn't killed, though. In this contest, the winner is the one left standing. Cort is disgusted with himself. Aww, poor man. What you need is a tall, cool glass of water and a hot bath. Unfortunately, you get neither one. What you do get is Herod revealing your dark past to The Lady, of how you used to be part of his gang, spreading evil throughout the south west. Don't worry, Cort, we still love you.
We're now up to The Lady's first gunfight. It is here that we realize that despite her tough-as-nails stoic attitude, she's really scared to death. Although a crack shot, she's never been in a showdown before. But don't worry, Lady; you've got Cort, and Cort's got The Lord. He's also got a piece of advice. The fighters are supposed to wait for the strike of the town's clock before shooting, but Cort knows there's a click before the strike, listen for it. Isn't that cheating, you ask. Shut up and stop asking questions, I reply.
The Lady heeds Cort's advice and wins her round. She also has dinner with Herod. She has plans to kill him with an itsy bitsy gun, but doesn't have the courage. Why is she intent on killing Herod? What is her grudge against the man? Wait and see.
The next day it is
raining and Cort gets his long awaited drink and bath from Mother Nature.
Sitting on the porch of the saloon, he and The Lady have a heart to heart.
Well, Cort has the heart to heart as she says absolutely not one word during
this entire scene. Cort tells her of his shameful past and the turning
point in his life. He implores her not to go down that same road.
Just as soon as the showers appeared, they are gone, and the streets of Redemption are as dusty as ever. Herod announces a change in the rules. From now on, the winner is the one left alive. This change causes The Lady to kill her first human being. (He really deserved it, but still, it's the thought.)
Losing her taste for violence, she heads out of town, right when Cort is facing a challenge from Spotted Horse, an Indian who cannot be killed by a bullet (only he pronounces it like boo-let).
Armed with only one boolet, Cort thinks he's won his match. But wait, Spotted Horse lives! He really can't be killed by a boolet; it'll take more than one.
Cort begs for another boolet while being shot at. As the Indian's shots get dangerously closer and closer, Blind Boy tosses Cort what he needs and at last Spotted Horse is now Dead Horse. Cort has fallen back to being a killer again, to Herod's great delight.
Meanwhile, out in the town graveyard (a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to stay there), The Lady meets up with the town's doctor, who knows who she is. We learn more about The Lady's past. Years before, when she was known simply as The Little Girl, she lived in Redemption with her father, who bears an eerie resemblance to American President Andrew Johnson. Her father is The Marshall. (Names? We don't need no stinkin' names!)
One day Herod and his men rode into town, grabbed The Marshall and strung him up just like they did Cort (see, I told you that would come in later) while The Little Girl witnessed the whole thing. This is why The Lady is out to get Herod. Reminded of her purpose, she returns to Redemption and the contest.
The Kid, newly married to The Whore, finally gets a crack at his supposed old man. Tragically, this is Oedipus in reverse, and Herod kills The Kid, refusing even unto the end to acknowledge the young man as his offspring. Adios, Kid. Perhaps you'll have better luck in another lifetime on board the Titanic. Oh, wait....
Even more tragic, though, is what is done to us, the American audience. Originally there was a scene filmed where The Lady, after returning to town, whisks Cort away where they both give in to their mutual attraction. Yet for some reason the Powers That Be at the time decided it was unnecessary for the story and cut it out. Audiences overseas got to watch 'The Bordello Scene,' but did we Americans watching an American made movie set in America ever get to? Noooooo! You'll have to go to another web site to see the missing pictures.
After the Kid's death, The Lady comes up with a plan involving some ink and kegs of dynamite Kid keeps in his shop. We don't get to hear the plan, though. That would ruin the surprise.
There are only two gunfights left, and the one coming up is between The Lady and Cort. Both refuse to draw. Herod warns that if neither one of them draws by the time he counts down from 10, his men will gun the two down. As the tension mounts, Cort begs The Lady to kill him or he'll have to kill her. Only, he calls her Ellen. Where did this name come from? He must have learned her true name during the love scene which we didn't get to see!
When Herod reaches one, Ellen and Cort both fire. Ellen falls to the ground clutching her chest, red blood pouring between her fingers. The old doctor declares her dead.
So now we're down to Herod and Cort. Herod is older and not as fast, but Cort is tired, hungry, beat-up and dusty. Who will be left standing?
Dawn. Herod and Cort face each other for the first and last time. The clock strikes. It also explodes in a fiery ball. Then Herod's house explodes. Then the saloon. Every major building in the town appears to have been destroyed.
That was what the dynamite was for.
What's this we see emerging from the smoke and ruins? Why, it's Ellen (nee The Lady)! She's not dead after all.
That was what the red ink was for.
As Ellen and Herod face off, she has another flashback and we learn more about the incident with her father. As Herod was shooting away at the stool The Marshall was standing on, young Ellen races out to stop him. Herod decides to have some fun with the girl. He gives her the gun and instructs her to shoot at the rope above her father's head. If she succeeds in cutting the rope with a bullet, her father will be freed and Herod will leave. Sadly, Ellen misses the rope. (To give her some credit, she does get off a nice clean head shot on her old man.)
Back to reality. Herod and Ellen fire at each other. Ellen is wounded, but Herod has a nice hole in his chest allowing the sun to shine through him. Yet, like Spotted Horse, Herod cannot be killed by one boolet, so Ellen must fire again, finally finishing the villain off.
Ellen tosses Cort her father's badge, announcing: "The law's come back to town." Redemption is redeemed. Get it? Of course you do. Ellen mounts a horse and rides off into the sunset, although technically it's still dawn, leaving Cort to clean up her mess. And what a mess it is! But at least we have one last lingering shot of Cort before the movie fades to black.