The Jack Bull
The Jack Bull | |
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An unshaven man with a cowboy hat looks scornfully on his left. Below him, in contre-jour, a group of men riding horses side to side face the camera. Front DVD cover. | |
Based on | Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist |
Written by | Dick Cusack John Pogue |
Directed by | John Badham |
Starring | John Cusack John Goodman L.Q. Jones Miranda Otto John C. McGinley |
Music by | Lennie Niehaus |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Kevin Reidy D.V. DeVincentis |
Cinematography | Gale Tattersall |
Editor | Frank Morriss |
Running time | 116 minutes |
Production company | HBO Pictures |
Release | |
Original release |
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The Jack Bull is a 1999 American Western television film directed by John Badham and written by Dick Cusack. It is loosely based on Heinrich von Kleist's novel, Michael Kohlhaas. Much of the movie was filmed at the CL Ranch and the Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary, Alberta.
Plot
Myrl Redding (John Cusack) is a horse trader living with his son Cage (Drake Bell), wife Cora (Miranda Otto) and some ranch hands. When Redding attempts to take his horses to a horse market in Casper he discovers local wealthy landowner, Henry Ballard, has erected a tollbooth on the road to Casper, which goes through Ballard’s property. Ballard, who disagrees with Redding regarding making Wyoming a state (which will restrict Ballard’s commercial opportunities), charges Redding ten dollars to pass through his land. Unable to pay, Redding leaves two horses as collateral for payment along with a Native American ranch hand, Crow, to ensure the horses are not mistreated.
After selling the horses at Casper, Redding returns to Ballard’s ranch to discover that the horses are malnourished and beaten, with Crow nowhere in sight. Redding vows that Ballard will pay to restore the horses’ health, while Ballard refuses to pay anything. Redding approaches a local lawyer seeking to sue Ballard, however the lawyer is doubtful the local judge, Judge Wilkins, who is friends with Ballard, will do anything. Redding soon learns that the Judge Wilkins has indeed thrown out the lawsuit, prompting his wife to attempt to meet the Attorney General, whose wife she is friends with, escorted by ranch hand Woody. During her visit, some of Ballard’s men attack Woody and throw him in front of a horse carriage, which swerves to avoid him and ends up hitting and killing Cora. Redding, furious at the law’s failure to do anything about the death of his wife and the loss of his horses, rallies a local militia of ranch owners and farmers and attacks Ballard’s home, sending him fleeing.
Ballard manages to plead his case to the Governor of Wyoming, who dispatches a sheriff to arrest Redding. Redding manages to ambush the Sheriff’s men and in the confusion one of Ballard’s men is killed. Seeking to ease the escalating violence, the Governor of Wyoming offers Redding amnesty if he surrenders. Redding accepts but later sends a letter promising to support Crow’s tribe against the United States, jeopardizing his amnesty agreement. He is subsequently charged and convicted of murder. Ballard, meanwhile, is brought to Court and ordered to restore the horses’ health by a sympathetic judge, Judge Tolliver, who also orders Ballard imprisoned for two years. Nonetheless, Judge Tolliver is forced to sentence Redding to be executed following his conviction.
After saying goodbye to his son, Redding is hung and executed. Wyoming becomes a state, and Redding’s son Cage and Woody take the two healthy horses back to the Reddings’ ranch.
Cast
- John Cusack – Myrl Redding
- John Goodman – Judge Joe B. Tolliver
- L.Q. Jones – Henry Ballard
- Miranda Otto – Cora Redding
- John C. McGinley – Woody
- Rodney A. Grant – Billy
- Kurt Fuller – Conrad
- Rex Linn – Shelby Dykes
- Drake Bell – Cage Redding
- Ken Pogue - Judge Wilkins
- Scott Wilson – Governor
- Dick Cusack – Jury Foreman
Soundtrack
- Music by Lennie Niehaus
- "Ring Them Bells" – Bob Dylan
References
External links
- Articles with short description
- Short description with empty Wikidata description
- Articles lacking sources from August 2021
- All articles lacking sources
- Articles with missing files
- 1999 television films
- Template film date with 1 release date
- IMDb ID not in Wikidata
- 1999 films
- American television films
- Films about capital punishment
- Films about miscarriage of justice
- Films based on Western (genre) novels
- Films based on works by Heinrich von Kleist
- Films directed by John Badham
- Films scored by Lennie Niehaus
- HBO Films films
- Western (genre) television films