Quigley Down Under would have seemed right at home in theaters had it been released about 60 years ago.
Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) is an American sharpshooter who travels from Wyoming to Australia thinking he’s being hired to control dingoes on rancher Elliot Marston’s property. When he arrives in the port city of Fremantle, he saves a woman named Cora (Laura San Giacomo) from three men who are attempting to assault her. It turns out they work for Marston.
Once Quigley meets Marston (Alan Rickman), he learns that the assignment to kill dingoes was a ruse. In fact, Marston wants the sharpshooter to hunt Aborigines, the indigenous people of Australia, who have harassed him on what was once their land.
Appalled at Marston’s request, Quigley assaults him but is soon overtaken by Marston’s ranch hands and beaten unconscious. Marston orders his men to take Quigley and Cora into the desert and leave them to die in the wilderness.
Quigley and Cora are rescued by a tribe of Aborigines and nursed back to health. Quigley sets in motion a game of tit-for-tat with Marston in retaliation for his treatment of the Aborigines.
Released in 1990, Quigley Down Under was written by John Hill (Little Nikita) and directed by Simon Wincer (The Phantom.) The musical score by Basil Poledouris recalls those of epic westerns from the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, the entire production appears to have been influenced by those same epic westerns. And, aside from Tom Selleck (who infuses the title character with a self-assuredness that would feel out-of-place), a few utterances of profanity, and some culturally appropriate nudity, Quigley Down Under would have seemed right at home in theaters had it been released about 60 years ago.
Selleck, who was attempting to prove himself in film roles after his long-running TV show, Magnum P.I., ended in 1988, is quite likable as Matthew Quigley. His good looks and charismatic nature make it hard to dislike his character especially when he’s assisting senior citizens, protecting women’s honor and saving indigenous people from the bad guys.
A hero like Quigley needs a good villain to face-off against and Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Marston is note-perfect. Rickman’s trademark droll humor and mannerisms combined with the character’s sinister intentions make for an excellent villain indeed.
Laura San Giacomo, cast in the role of “Crazy” Cora, Quigley’s semi-romantic foil, delivers a fine performance but her character is given an odd personality quirk that eventually becomes an unnecessary plot point. While it’s funny at first, it eventually becomes annoying. Otherwise, though, San Giacomo and Selleck have real chemistry together.
Unfortunately, the only real flaw with Quigley Down Under is its perpetuation of the “white savior” trope. Quigley, the white man, arrives to defend the colored people who seem unable to defend themselves from the evil land baron. Intentional or not, it’s something that sat in the back of my mind as I watched the film.
Fans of westerns and/or those that think that “they don’t make ’em like they used to” should find Quigley Down Under an enjoyable experience. It’s well-made, well-acted, and, for better or worse, predictable and familiar.
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
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