Larry McMurtry's Dead Man'sWalk

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Larry McMurtry's Dead Man'sWalk ★★½ Dead Man's Walk 1996 (PG-13)

McMurtry's prequel to “Lonesome Dove” focuses on the teenaged Gus McCrae (Arquette) and Woodrow Call (Miller) and their first adventures as Texas Rangers in the 1840s. They're involved in the ill-fated Texas-Santa Fe Expedition, led by parrot-owning former seafarer Caleb Cobb (Abraham), to take Santa Fe and make New Mexico part of the Texas Republic. Instead, a Mexican Army detachment led by Capt. Salazar (Olmos), captures the rag-tag group, which is then forced to march across a deadly stretch of desert that few survive. Likeable leads but the supporting actors, including Carradine and Stanton as scouts, steal the show. 271m/C VHS, DVD . Jonny Lee Miller, David Arquette, Keith Carradine, Harry Dean Stanton, F. Murray Abraham, Edward James Olmos, Eric Schweig, Patricia Childress, Jennifer Garner, Haviland (Haylie) Morris, Brian Dennehy, Joaquim de Almeida, Ray McKinnon, Akosua Busia; D: Yves Simoneau; W: Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana; C: Edward Pei; M: David Bell. TV