Review – Wild Bill

Plays adapted as movies sometimes come across as too "theatrical," and wow is that ever the case here. The life and death of Wild Bill Hickok (Jeff Bridges) shouldn't have been anywhere near this boring, and a big part of the blame can be placed on the "everything has to take place within the four corners of a single room" approach taken by the filmmakers. Sure, it uses more than one location. And it features some elements – particularly an explicit and historically-inaccurate sexual relationship between the protagonist and Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin) – that would have been awkward in front of a live audience. But overall the piece is stage play stiff, especially toward the end when Hickok squares off against would-be assassin Jack McCall (helped neither by the motive they assign to McCall's hatred nor the decision to cast David Arquette in the role). Such a production was a particular surprise coming from director Walter Hill, famous for fast-paced-if-slow-witted action pictures. See if desperate