Upside-Down Western: Film #108 - Quigley Down Under (1990)
Viewed April 18, 2006
Quigley Down Under is the story of Matthew Quigley, a sharpshooter (a sniper, really) brought to Australia by Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman), a landowner who wants Quigley to use his skills to take out the aboriginies who are giving him trouble. When Quigley refuses (rather violently), he finds himself dropped in the Outback with a disturbed woman, bent on getting back to avenge his mistreatment.
Selleck does a decent job of portraying Quigley. He makes him a fully realized character, with quirks and real personality. Unfortunately, the other two major characters lack his depth. Crazy Cora, as portrayed by Laura San Giacomo, and Elliot Marston, the villain portrayed by Alan Rickman, are both too simplistic to really engage the audience.
The problem with Quigley Down Under is that its form is sloppy. Virtually every major plot development in the second half is a direct response to something mentioned in the first half. Every character point mentioned, from Marston’s fashining himself a sharpshooter to Cora’s back story is re-visited. A bit more subtlty in the characterization and in the plot would have made it more interesting and less predictable.
The film does show off the Australian outback quite well, but its portrayal of the aboriginies is, like so much else, to simplistic. We never actually get to know them, we only get a sense of them, as if we are supposed to automatically understand their plight without proper representation.
Still, the action is well done, so there is interest to be found for fans of Westerns and action films. Those looking for something that really stretches the genre, however, are better off seeking out the “Spaghetti Westerns” or quirkier entries like Silverado (1985) or Maverick (1994).