The Hi-Lo country

Based on the novel by Max Evans, “The Hi-Lo Country” is a homage to the western genre. Neither revisionist nor ironically post-modern, Stephen Frears utilises much of the classic western mise-en-scene and narrative tropes to construct an entertaining old fashioned film. It is post-War America and Woody Harrelson and Billy Crudup play two friends who dream of being heroic cowboys. However, the Old West is fading and the encroachment of suburban values is chipping away at the heart of traditional mythologies. Torn between the macho behaviour they have been raised to respect and the need to understand new values and new social relationships, the differences between the two men becomes a showdown over their mutual love for the same woman. Cast also includes Penelope Cruz and Sam Elliott.