Reimagined Shakespeare Marathon Movie 3: King of Texas (2002)

This is going to be a shorter writeup because of technological malfunctions.  The third movie in the Reimagined Shakespeare Marathon is a television movie called King of Texas.  I watched about 55 minutes worth of the movie and then there was nothing else.  The video file was corrupted.  This meant that I can’t get past the 55 minute mark at all, no matter how much I try.  So, that is why this will only seem like half of a writeup.  It might actually be a little bit more because I pretty much got the feel of the film and I have read the source material for this one.  Here goes.

King of Texas is, obviously, based on a classic Shakespeare work.  This time, the source material was King Lear.  The basic plot is that guy 1 owns lots of land and gets old so he gives it to daughters 1, 2, and 3 on the basis that they verbally express their love for him.  Daughter 3 won’t so he kicks her out.  Daughters 1 and 2 do, then when they get the land, turn their backs on guy 1. Guy 1 descends into madness.  There are also sideplots, but they all center on that one.

Like all of the movies in this marathon, there is a change in the setting of the story.  In this case, Lear is no longer a king, but instead he is a cattle rancher in Texas.  The movie is a western on a television budget but the budget doesn’t really make too much of a difference.  A large budget is not needed for the material.  What would have helped, however, is some more revision on the writing.  The half of the movie I watched seemed fairly dull for what is commonly considered one of the greatest tragedies of all time.  This may have been due to movie length constraints, but I feel that fleshing out the characters a little more would have vastly improved the product.  I did not feel for any of the characters the way that they meant me to.  They seemed like they were transferred from the source with their substance removed.  It left a hollow feeling to the movie that didn’t sit well with me.  This might have been improved in the second half but the first half had me uninterested in the outcome.

I know this is getting picky because I have read the source, but in King Lear, my favourite character is Kent.  There was no Kent in this adaptation.  I don’t like the exclusion of Kent.

When it comes to the acting in King of Texas, there isn’t too much to complain about.  Most of the actors do an alright job with the material.  The problem is within the material they are given.  Patrick Stewart plays John Lear to the best of his abilities.  David Alan Greer turned in a fairly enjoyable performance.  Toss in some Roy Sheider and some Marcia Gay Harden and you have a decent cast in what I would say is a poorly scripted adaptation.

Since I did not reach the end and cannot reach the end at this time, I would say not to completely rely on what I’ve said.  The ending could be the most brilliant piece of work ever put on the small or big screen.  From what I’ve seen though, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.  There was a lot of potential setting the material in the west.  It seems to have been squandered through a lack of character behind the characters.  They each seem one note which weakens the investment in what is happening.  That’s not a good thing when watching a tragedy.

Next up in the Reimagined Shakespeare Marathon is the 2006 movie, She’s the Man.  I’m not really looking forward to this one.  I’ve seen it before and was on the fence about it.  However, it’s based on a Shakespeare play so I’m giving it a second chance.  I’ll tell you how it is when I finish watching it again.