Another posting to clean house of 2006 releases in this, the first month of 2007. This time, it’s a trio of DVDs that didn’t fit properly into my last posting, since those were / are regular weekly series.
Broken Trail: A 2-part Western – 184 minutes – that originally aired on American Movie Classics, starring Robert Duvall, Thomas Haden Church, and Greta Sacchi, among others. Not everybody enjoys a good Western, but make no mistake, this is a good Western. Then again, it’s not exactly the first time Duvall has been in the saddle (he was fantastic in Kevin Costner’s “Open Range”), and although he was still pretty much a nobody at the time, Church was actually in “Tombstone,” playing Billy Clanton. It also doesn’t hurt “Broken Trail” any that it was helmed by Arthur Hill, who also directed “Wild Bill” and “Geromino: An American Legend.” I mean, hey, who better to tell a cowboys and Indians story, right? Anyway, it might feel a bit long at times, but the performances and scenery make “Broken Trail” absolutely worth renting for fans of the genre.
The Hades Factor: Stephen Dorff and Mira Sorvino take you on a journey through a Robert Ludlum novel that, on occasion, feels much longer than 165 minutes. Blair Underwood, Colm Meaney, and Anjelica Huston are around to class up the joint a bit, but somebody should’ve done some serious streamlining; as it is, “The Hades Factor” is a drag.
Mrs. Harris: And I’m almost ashamed to admit that I feel much the same way about this made-for-HBO film starring Ben Kingsley and Annette Bening. It just did nothing for me, despite the fact that it won an Emmy. Sorry, I just found it to be a snooze.
