Quigley Down Under (1990)

Director: Simon Wincer

Starring: Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, Alan Rickman, Chris Haywood

More info: IMDb

Tagline: There's a price on his head. A girl on his mind. And a twinkle in his eye.

Plot: Sharpshooter Matt Quigley is hired from America by an Australian rancher so he can shoot aborigines at a distance. Quigley takes exception to this and leaves. The rancher tries to kill him for refusing, and Quigley escapes into the brush with a woman he rescued from some of the rancher's men, and are helped by aborigines. Quigley returns the help, before going on to destroy all his enemies.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? NOOOOOOO!

It's been 20 years since I saw this and I had fond memories of it, too. I must've been high or something because despite a very likable Tom Selleck, this picture has one MAJOR flaw and her name is Laura San Giacomo. She's horrible and brings this picture waaaaay down. It's bad enough that her character is poorly written and is completely unnecessary but must she overact so and be annoying as fuck in nearly every.single.scene? She reminded me of Susan George's grating performance in DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY (1974). Giacomo is so obnoxious that I'm turned off ever wanting to see her again.


If her character didn't exist and this was entirely between Selleck and Rickman & co., this would have been a far better and focused movie (and shorter, too - it's two hours long!!!). QUIGLEY's got some grisly scenes like when the Aborigines are herded over a cliff to their death. WOW! That was powerful. But then Giacomo shows up and goes into acting overdrive. The scenery is gorgeous and Basil Poledouris's score is fun. There is one scene, though, at the end that could have been better served without the score and left with just the sounds of the didgeridoos. THAT would have been nice. For as much as I love film music, there are times when no music is better. I'll blame the director for that decision.


So there you go. Cut the Crazy Cora character entirely, thereby shortening the picture by a good half hour, and there's a very good Western to be seen, only we'll never see it. Rickman is his bad guy best and Selleck is very cool and fits right into the genre. Too bad Crazy Cora showed up and ruined it.