“Broken Trail,” “Men of Honor,” and “The Great Santini”
Review: “Broken Trailâ€
AMC’s first full-length original motion picture, “Broken Trail,”which originally aired in two parts on June 27 and 28, was deservedly the most-watched program in the network’s history. Print Ritter (Robert Duvall) and Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church), Print’s nephew, were two horse wranglers driving a herd of 400 mustangs across wild country with gorgeous backdrops from Oregon to Wyoming in 1898. The movie received well-deserved rave reviews from critics and viewers alike.
The obstacle the two cowboys unexpectedly faced was in having to free and protect five Chinese women from their kidnapper, who was selling them into prostitution. The kidnapper was an obvious and vile alcoholic. Yet not one reviewer, professional or otherwise, thought the motive force behind the iniquity was worth mentioning; only that good, honest and honorable men saved the day. Yet, without alcoholism, monsters would be few and far between and there would likely have been nothing to save the women from. Therefore, although most would never guess from the reviews, the story is rooted in the alcoholism-driven need to wield power in a particularly cruel way and, perhaps perversely, in the idea that non-alcoholics would never have had the opportunity to prove their mettle without this extreme form of alcoholism.
“Broken Trail”is a feast for the eyes and ears. It is well-written and gives an excellent taste of good vs. evil and right vs. wrong”of non-addict virtue vs. alcoholism-fueled depravity.
Brief snippets:
Robert Duvall played Lt. Col. Bull Meechum as the lead hero-heavy in 1979’s “The Great Santini.”Most viewers might think Meechum, “The Great Santini,”just couldn’t stand losing because “that’s who he was.”Most viewers would be wrong. His need to win was fueled by alcoholism. Duvall’s portrayal is a classic by a truly great actor.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. portrayed Carl Brashear, the first Black to enter the Navy dive school and earn the Navy’s Master Diver certification in 2000’s “Men of Honor,”an excellent movie on a number of levels. Brashear overcame many obstacles, one of which was prejudice and racism in the upper command, which included Master Chief Billy Sunday in a marvelous performance by Robert DeNiro. I began innocently watching the movie, slowly realizing that Sunday was exhibiting all sorts of behavioral indications of alcoholism. During a commercial break I checked the Internet and, in one review, read, “When his diving career is cut short, Sunday turns to drink”and ends up in rehab. More accurately, “When his diving career was cut short, Sunday could no longer successfully inflate his ego, resulting in a spiral down into more obvious late-stage alcoholism.”Well, at least one review alluded to alcoholism; others don’t even mention it. In fact, the movie couldn’t have been made without it. Alcoholism caused power-seeking misbehaviors, one of which is racism, creating the chief obstacle Brashear had to overcome. The evidence is that Sunday’s racism dissipates after his stint in rehab. An excellent portrayal of poor conduct fueled by alcoholism followed by recovery and amends makes this one of the great unsung alcoholic movies.
I’ve included a complete review of both movies at www.imdb.com as well as on the blog at www.addictionreport.com.