Sunday, October 12, 2008

Wild West Cosby

We don't often think of Western movies with black characters. There's a few, like 100 Rifles with Jim Brown, and then there was Mel Brooks classic Blazing Saddles. Thanks to the Western Channel, I've had the opportunity to watch Man and Boy starring Bill Cosby. I highly recommend it. It's not a typical Western; it is realistic and a picture we don't normally see of the post-Civil War West, of the African-Americans who are a big piece of that history. It's a story of family and struggle and chaos--well written, well acted, well directed. Great cameo roles by Leif Erickson, John Anderson, and Douglas Turner Ward.