![]() ![]() “We started publicly workshopping our vision of Lone Star in 2017, finding ways to bridge the characters and stories with added elements from the Vietnam War. There are so many parallels between the post-Vietnam era and now, that mounting a production could not be ignored,” says director Rosario. “ Lone Star is a hidden gem of a play that we felt compelled to re-introduce to New York City audiences. Lone Star offers a study of Texas "good ole boys," the depths of brotherhood, and the scars to be dealt with from battles fought at home and abroad. Roy, battling PTSD after a hitch in Vietnam, is back in town with his brother Ray. Lone Star is set in the cluttered backyard of a small-town Texas bar. Ruth Stage was granted permission by the McLure Estate to adapt Lone Star with elements from its sister play, Laundry and Bourbon, and the unpublished 1980's Lone Star screenplay, which had been set for a film starring Sigourney Weaver that didn't come to fruition. 8.James McLure's dark comedy Lone Star will play Theatre Row this fall produced by Ruth Stage. Joe Rosario will direct the limited engagement, set for November 24-December 23. It also looks and sounds brilliant on Blu-ray, where repeat viewings even show Hammer to be better than first thought as that masked man. But if you haven't seen it yet, if you was put off by the venomous early reviews, then give it a chance, you may just be surprised at just how entertaining it is. Bruckheimer, Hammer and Verbinski backed Depp up, stating that some reviews were written before the film had even been released, the big budget and production problems clearly making this a big stinker Not so, it's certainly not flawless, and those seriously into anachronisms are likely to have kittens. It was interesting to see Depp come out and defend the movie against those damning early critic reviews, it's not something he does, being as he is very much a guy who sees acting as just a job. There's caustic asides to the machinations of organisations of the time, from railroad magnates to the cavalry, while the catchphrases and legends of The Lone Ranger TV series are deftly inserted into the tale. Chases, fights, swinging from ropes, shoot-outs, people dangling from speeding train (pic is bookended by awesome train sequences), grisly deaths and on it goes from start to end. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Verbinski throw all the action staples into the pot. Some parts of the narrative could have been trimmed, but as the bromance builds between our two heroes, and Silver gets up to all sorts of comedy horse escapades, there's nary a dull moment here. It's all very wacky and wild, and rightly so, but this is not at the expense of very good story telling. ![]() Tom Wilkinson and William Fitchner file in for polar opposite villain duties, the former is the weasel business man trying to mould the West in is own image, the latter a repugnant psychopath with a penchant for eating human hearts! Then Helena Bonham Carter wanders in from some Grindhouse movie for a couple of cameos that are resplendent with sexual energy. This is an origin story, a tale of how John Reid (Armie Hammer) became The Lone Ranger, and of course how the noble steed Silver and Indian side-kick Tonto became integral to his villain fighting ways. The stunts are outrageously enjoyable, the landscape photography as beautiful as it is respectful in homage to past masters of the Western genre, while in Depp's Tonto there's a bona fide hero to root for just as much as he makes you laugh out loud. It's awash with the serial silliness of adventure films and TV shows of yore, pitching good guys against bad guys with buddy buddy shenanigans pulsing away at the core. Yet in spite of it noticeably alienating original Lone Ranger purists, and some Western lovers as well, for a rollicking action fun packed time then Gore Verbinski's movie delivers in spades. The Lone Ranger seemed destined to be a blockbuster stinker. The early signs were not good, tales of production problems galore and early critical notices wading in to kick the film before it had even had a run at the theatres.
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