WARDEN OF RED ROCK

Susan Granger’s review of “WARDEN OF RED ROCK” (Showtime TV – March 18th)

It’s been a long time since there’s been a good, old-fashioned Western – and that’s just what this Showtime Original feature is. Delivering a solid, believable performance, James Caan plays the extraordinarily fair ‘n’ square warden of Red Rock Prison in 1910 in the Territory of Arizona. He’s a tough guy with a tender heart, a conflicted man who must come to terms not only with the modernization of the times but also with a gnawing void in his personal life. Conflict erupts when a cold-blooded killer (David Carradine) is incarcerated; he and Caan knew each other, years past, when they both were outlaws in Mexico. “I guess I grew up,” Caan says. “You just do your job, and I’ll do mine,” Carradine mutters, foreshadowing the prison break and escape chase through the rugged Durango desert that inevitably follows. Meanwhile, Caan has fallen for the Mexican widow (Rachel Ticotin) of one of his condemned prisoners, helping her and her young daughter to re-settle and begin a better life. Several of the best scenes are when he confides this emotional uncertainty to his friend, the local sheriff, skillfully played by Brian Dennehy, who also executive produces. Written by the late James Lee Barrett and sensitively directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, the story is deceptively simple and timeless. It’s about people getting rid of their old habits and their old ways, making a new start at any age. But I do have one dental quibble: David Carradine’s glistening white, perfectly capped teeth look so improbable for his character that it truly breaks the suspension of disbelief. On the Granger Made-for-TV Movie Gauge, “Warden of Red Rock” is a solid 7. Rated TV14, it will premiere on Showtime, Sunday night at 8 p.m. with additional playdates of 3/23 at 6:30 p.m. and 3/28 at 3 p.m.

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