Greg's Pick of the Week: Comanche Moon, the Mini-Series

I can't remember if I wrote about this on the blog the first time I watched it. But I watched it again. As a student of cinema, I find this CBS mini-series fascinating. The craft is bad. The screenwriting bad (even tho it's Larry McMurty and Dianna Ossana). Filmmmaking bad. They've got good actors - Steve Zahn, Val Kilmer, Elizabeth Banks, Linda Cardellini, Wes Studi - but the directing is poor so you have a bunch of crappy actors in between them and I suspect the director fails to get or use the best takes.

BUT, the series is eminently watchable because the characters are so rich and exceptional.

I've heard Denby and AO Scott talk about a great performance carrying bad screenwriting. And I think we all know a lot of movies where a performance is so exceptional, it makes the movie itself watchable or even good. Well, there is no such performance or any such craft in Comanche Moon the CBS Mini-Series. But simply because the conception of the characters and their epic struggles are so rich and fascinating, the series is watchable and quite enjoyable, if you ask me. I'll probably watch it again at some point.

PS - this is the third part of the Lonesome Dove series. The second part chronologically.