Legends of Western Cinema Week || Quigley Down Under {1990}

{The Plot}

American sharpshooter Matthew Quigley answers an international advertisement for a long-distance marksman placed by Elliot Marston, a rancher based in Australia.  Quigley believes he has been hired to kill wild dingoes, but when he arrives, Marston reveals that he has a much more sinister plan for Quigley's rifle:  targeting the indigenous Aboriginal population.

{My Thoughts}

As of now, Broken Trail is still the Western that's closest to my heart.  But Quigley Down Under gives it a run for its money, and it's the one I'll more often turn to if I'm in the mood for a Western.  That's because, while it's every bit as serious as Broken Trail, it's also a heck of a lot more fun.  

The tone of Broken Trail is perfect, don't get me wrong; but it is heavy, and it is bittersweet, and it is somber.  Quigley Down Under, by contrast, is a boisterous, self-assured romp of a show that transitions seamlessly between obliterating bad guys with one hand and cracking witty one-liners with the other.  It goes to some very, very dark places in its narrative, and it's committed to giving full attention to those dark places.  But it also makes room for quirky humor, wholesome flirting, and a rollicking musical score along the way.

Plus, it gives us the not inconsiderable gift of seeing a racist coward be absolutely yeeted through the glass doors of his own home — twice.  

It.  Is.  Fantastic.

And speaking of a racist coward being yeeted out of his own home, let's take this opportunity to Touch Briefly on a Rather Touchy subject so as to get it out of the way as soon as possible, shall we?  

Quigley Down Under is a period piece which pits a morally conscious white hero who tries to help an indigenous population against a racially prejudiced white villain who tries to hurt them.  As such, I've wondered whether some would think it perpetuates the "white savior" trope.  

(I'm not interested in debating the reality of this trope at this time, FYI — just in considering whether or not it exists in this particular film.)

I've thought a lot about this, and my conclusion basically boils down to this:  In this, as in most pieces of literature or cinema, there is room for interpretation.  

For myself, I've realized two things:

1)  I'm not qualified to make judgments on the objective quality of this story's depiction of race relations — or on the ins and outs of the trope in question, for that matter.  I'm just not.  I'm not an authority on the subject.  And that's okay.  I can enjoy this movie without feeling any pressure to make universal ethical statements about it. 

2)  That being said, when I look at the story, I don't see it as pushing a white saviorism perspective.  That is because, when I examine the film, I see that: 

• a) The only reason Quigley lives long enough to oppose Marston's racism in the first place is the Aboriginal community itself.  They are the ones who rescue him, more than once.  Even at the end of the movie, indigenous people are the ones with the power to determine who succeeds and who fails.  In that way, I think the story does a decent job of highlighting the agency of its BIPOC characters.

• b) The narrative emphasis is not on Quigley waging a noble hero's war against the evils of racism.  He does fight to help vulnerable people of color (as he should), but his eventual crusade against Marston is motivated by many factors, not only Marston's treatment of the indigenous population.  Thus, I don't get the impression that the film is using its racial angle to say, "Look at this Brave White Man helping these Poor Non-white Victims!!"

Again, as I said before, there is room for interpretation here; and I haven't studied the intricacies of the trope or its history enough to be able to give an expert opinion on whether it is or isn't present in various pieces of fiction.  This is just my personal take on it in this film, and since the question has arisen in my own mind at times, I wanted to devote some space to it in this review.  

So, for what it's worth and from my own perspective — which I fully acknowledge is not an authoritative one — I love the racial justice subplot of this story.  It's one of my favorite things about it, actually; and, I think, one of the film's greatest strengths. 

Moving on to cheerier and less divisive subjects (*cough*) . . . 

The cast in this movie is really sublime.  Selleck's Quigley and San Giacomo's Cora are ridiculously easy to root for, with their savoir faire and their spunk and their sweetness.  (More on them in a minute.)  Rickman's Marston is an outstandingly entertaining villain:  genuinely bad, but simultaneously almost childlike in his fascination with the American West and his initial starstruck desire to impress Quigley.  You can see how secretly thrilled he is to finally meet a real-life, bona fide Western cowboy, and it's kind of hilarious.  (Interrupting the flow of his own conversation to tell Quigley that he made the mint jelly always makes me laugh.)  *SPOILERS*  Plus, he has the good grace to die with laughter on his lips, which endears him a little to me. *END OF SPOILERS*

^ *insert awkward chuckle here* ^

I know I've said it before, but I'm gonna say it again:  MATTHEW AND CORA ARE REALLY FREAKIN' WHOLESOME, Y'ALL.  Their entire trajectory is fantastic.  From the very beginning, they're both just like, "Okay, I guess this is my Person to protect now."  Quigley, stepping in automatically when he sees a group of men antagonizing a woman he doesn't know; Cora, hitching her wagon to a star when she finally sees a friendly male face and decides that he will be her Roy.  They decide that they're a team from the get-go and they roll with that decision.  And it's adorable.

ALSO ALSO.

Okay, so you know when Cora finally explains her backstory to Quigley that one night?  I freaking love the way he uses that information to modify his behavior going forward.  He's been treating her perfectly right from the beginning, but after learning about her past — which gives him new insight into why she is the way she is — he goes above and beyond to support her.  

First, when she reverts to the "Crazy Cora" persona the next morning and addresses him as Roy again, talking about a former neighbor family acting up at "the church social last year".  He goes along with it, slipping into the role she wants him to play, because he knows it's a coping mechanism for her right now and he respects her right to adopt or drop that mechanism as needed.  "Well," he says smoothly, not skipping a beat, "it's their own fault for inviting them again this year."

Second, when the two of them are Getting Cozy out in the desert and he puts on the brakes after she calls him Roy, saying, "I'm not sharing my bed until I'm certain you know who's in it."  Because he's, you know, an #UpstandingHumanMan, and all that.  We stan a guy who respects sexual ethics. 

Third — and my personal mushy-gushy favorite — when he stops and turns to look back at her as he's riding away from town on his way to the final showdown with Marston.  Sound trivial?  I bet it does, until you remember that she told him how much it hurt that her husband never once looked back at her after dumping her on the ship that brought her to Australia.  When you remember that — when you consider how intentional he's being about making it clear to her that there is one man who values her enough to look back — well, then it becomes, in the truest sense of the term, a Grand Romantic Gesture.

AND ONE OF WHICH I AM RICHLY FOND, MIGHT I ADD. *deranged cackles*  

(Also, that whole scene is gorgeous.  I said what I said.)

I REST MY CASE.

If you want mature, high-stakes drama undercut by a wry, eccentric sense of humor — if you want a quirky, exhilarating score — if you want an outrageously sweet romance — if you want a little bit of action and a whole lot of fun — then this is the Western for you.  Give it a try!

Have you seen Quigley Down Under?