A remarkably distinguished cast gets lost with a poor script in this live action Disney film set in the 1905 American West
Scott Glenn can play a good villain (see Night of the Running Man), but he is completely flat here as evil industrialist JP Stiles. Still trying his best to become a Hollywood megastar, Patrick Swayze shows no signs of getting any closer to that goal here, how he got into this mess is unknown. In one of his last roles Burgess Meredith is wasted, as is the talented Oliver Platt who given a character as thin as a piece of paper and asked to do his best.
In the lead role fourteen year old Nick Stahl, who was absolutely riveting in Mel Gibson's 'The Man Without a Face', could've done the movie in his sleep. Even so, he delivers the best performance out of anyone here.
The fact that this is a Disney family film seriously hampers it's realism in depicting the West. Glenn is about as menacing as a piece of wet lettuce, and the only remotely 'bad' word in the whole 97 minute long film is 'hell', which is uttered once by Glenn. Come on, didn't they have swears back then? Maybe I should just stop complaining and realize that Tall Tale was aimed at the Power Rangers crowd. So, onto the good aspects.
Naturally this section will be quite short, as it consists of only one part. The skies, deserts, mountains, and the scenery in general was beautifully shot, but this alone is hardly enough to save this film.
4/10
Scott Glenn can play a good villain (see Night of the Running Man), but he is completely flat here as evil industrialist JP Stiles. Still trying his best to become a Hollywood megastar, Patrick Swayze shows no signs of getting any closer to that goal here, how he got into this mess is unknown. In one of his last roles Burgess Meredith is wasted, as is the talented Oliver Platt who given a character as thin as a piece of paper and asked to do his best.
In the lead role fourteen year old Nick Stahl, who was absolutely riveting in Mel Gibson's 'The Man Without a Face', could've done the movie in his sleep. Even so, he delivers the best performance out of anyone here.
The fact that this is a Disney family film seriously hampers it's realism in depicting the West. Glenn is about as menacing as a piece of wet lettuce, and the only remotely 'bad' word in the whole 97 minute long film is 'hell', which is uttered once by Glenn. Come on, didn't they have swears back then? Maybe I should just stop complaining and realize that Tall Tale was aimed at the Power Rangers crowd. So, onto the good aspects.
Naturally this section will be quite short, as it consists of only one part. The skies, deserts, mountains, and the scenery in general was beautifully shot, but this alone is hardly enough to save this film.
4/10