This could have been great, but there are two big problems, Ellen Barkin cast as Calamity Jane, and worst of all, the idea that Jack Macall couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger when he TWICE had the opportunity. Hill's "Long Riders" is miles ahead of this film, although this is not all bad, Bridge's performance is excellent as are many other supporting roles. I found the John Hurt character a typical John Hurt 19th century character which he did best in Cimino's "Heaven's Gate". Here he takes the place of real life Charlie Utter for reasons I don't understand. Barkin is so miscast that it almost hurts, her imitation of an southern accent is so close to a crime against humanity that she should at least pay a fine, and no woman looking like Ms. Barkin living in a town like Deadwood would be as clean and pretty as she always seems to be. Her bubbly, sweetness is also more than misplaced. You can bet your gold nugget that the studio needed a love interest who would show her birthday suit, I would well hope that Hill was not responsible for her character or role. Hickock's killer is a much more believable character in the excellent HBO "Deadwood, here he's a whiny, indecisive jerk which makes it hard to believe that he was raised by the woman who captured Hickock's heart long before. Lastly, the set design in this film was too "westerny", the bars are polished, the woodwork is excellent, the furnishings are expensive, etc. Deadwood was a gold mining camp that sprung up over night, this looks like a standard movie town for westerns despite the muddy streets. The excellent book by Dexter is done a disservice by this film and it is quite interesting to see what Hill did with the same story 9 years later in the pilot episode of "Deadwood". Watching both is a learning experience.
