Lonesome Dove (movie and book)

Lonesome Dove

Obsession Level: Epic

I didn't update yesterday.  It had been a very long week and I wasn't feeling particularly inspired by anything.  I didn't want to do anything that was going to force me to use my exhausted brain at all.  That being said, I spent the entire night on Facebook.  I did nothing all night but look at people's pictures, look at my own pictures, and just stare, waiting for status updates where my Facebook friends would tell me how exciting their lives are while I stared, blurry eyed at my computer screen.  Pathetic, I know.  


Today, however, I've decide to talk about one of my obsessions.  Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.  The obsession doesn't stop just at this book, it expands throughout the entire series.  This saga that he writes is probably the best saga of all times.  McMurtry has an amazing writing style and I've never disliked anything that I've read by him.  I will get around to discussing the other books in the future, but for the time being I'm going to just focus on this one.  


If you've never read it, this is a book that you simply cannot miss.  The story is beautiful and engaging and the characters are some of the most memorable characters available in literature.  McMurtry writes with a simple style that makes his books easy to read and get really involved in without having to get too wrapped up in overly flowery language.  I promise that once you read this book you'll be so intimately acquainted with the characters that you will want to read the rest of the series just to spend more time with them.  Whenever I read this book, or watch the movie adaptation of it, I feel like I'm spending time with old friends.  My three favorite friends in the book are Gus, Call, and Clara.


Gus is the charming, witty cowboy who doesn't take life too seriously.  He's always up for a poke and a drink and realizes that life is too short to not take advantage of fun when it's available.  His lifelong friend and working partner couldn't be more the opposite of him.  Woodrow Call is far more serious and his mind is on getting things done.  He's not the dreamer or the lover like Gus is, rather he is a doer that typically runs away from love and relationships.  He never really seems to let anyone get too close, except Gus.  Though he did have one love in his life, he never really treated her right, so you can suspect that he has a little guilt and regret built up that causes him to be the stand offish person that he is.  Clara was the love of Gus' life, and he was the love of hers.  Their brief time together in their youth is something both of them treasure, and even though they never end up happily ever after with each other, it's a beautiful love story.  

The movie adaptation of the book is actually very good.  Many of the movies made after McMurtry's books do a fabulous job of telling the story as it is in the book.  Many of his novels are long, so the movies are too, but it's worth it not to leave out any of the really important details that come up in his complex stories.  Lonesome Dove is a 6 hour movie (it was actually a miniseries like many of the films about McMurtry's books) with an awesome cast.   Robert Duvall's performance as Gus is wonderful.  He brings the character of Gus to life in a way that's even better than the Gus that I had pictured in my head while reading the book.  He won me over so much that I was persuaded to name my cat Gus as a tribute to the character that I loved so much.  Tommy Lee Jones plays the serious and practical Woodrow Call, and even though Call was never my favorite character in the book, there's something that draws you to him when you see him played by Jones.  

I of course was thrilled to discover that the strong, independent, and sometimes coy and difficult, Clara was played by Anjelica Huston.  I don't know who they could have gotten to play the part that would have been better for it.  Huston, as always, gives a stellar performance.  


If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, you need to do both.  The movie is great, and it's mostly accurate to the book, but I think that no matter how good the movie adaptations of McMurtry's books are, you are still missing out if you don't read them as well.  

Anjelica Huston

Anjelica Huston

Obsession Level: Wildly Obsessed

I'm not sure when I first saw Anjelica Huston on television, but I know the moment the obsession began.  It was Buffalo Girls.  This was yet another case of obsession begot obsession.  I purchased the movie to complete my Reba collection.  The first time I watched it, I was watching solely for Reba.  I even spent most of the movie frustrated because it wasn't until after several hours that Reba even appeared, and her appearance in the movie was limited at best.  Still, by the end of the movie I was in love with all the characters and the story line.  Then I read the book to see how different the movie was and fell deeper in love with the story.  My obsession was triggered at that point for Calamity Jane.  I had to revisit the movie to focus entirely on this character, and I did.  In fact, I've seen the movie tons of times, and I have to admit that Anjelica Huston does a stellar job of playing Calamity.  

So that was it.  The obsession ball was rolling.  I went in search of all the movies that I could find, and Netflix was a great help since it often streams more obscure and difficult to find movies.  (You're welcome for the advertisement, Netflix).  Anjelica is amazing because she is such a versatile actress.  It's hard to pick a favorite movie with her in it because there are so many choices.  Buffalo Girls, Lonesome Dove, Prizzi's Honor, Agnes Brown...the list goes on and on, but they are all exceptional!  I still have a lot of movies to go, but I'm sure they're all going to be great.  

Upon further investigation, watching interviews, reading articles, I also became aware that Anjelica Huston was a model and apparently has an amazing personality.  Someone once described her saying "It's a beauty that captures your attention, a personality that captures your soul".  That's when you know someone really has it all together.  They're beautiful, a remarkable and versatile actress, and they have a great personality.  Good package deal!  This is one obsession that is definitely going to be long term for me!  

Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott

Obsession Level: He Made Me Love Westerns

I don't remember the first time I laid eyes on Sam Elliott, but it wasn't long before I was in love.  He was the perfect man's man.  He was rugged, tough, and his voice was amazing.  It's like "velvet over gravel" according to one of my friends.  I have seen him in a lot of movies, always playing a tough guy and something of a charmer. (Obviously, I mean who wouldn't he charm?)  For me, though, his real masterpiece was when he played Wild Bill Hickok in Buffalo Girls.  I got the movie originally because Reba was in it and I needed it to finish up my collection of Reba movies, but then I discovered I had a billion other reasons to fall in love with the movie.  First of all, it was based on the book by my favorite author, Larry McMurtry.  Actually, it was the movie that led me to Larry McMurtry, but I'll get to my obsession with him as well as the other obsessions spawned by this movie in later blogs.  In fact, I think that Buffalo Girls deserves its own post.

The point here is that I fell in love with a man named Wild Bill Hickok, both the character and the man with a mustache behind the character.  I had absolutely no problem understanding why Calamity Jane (Anjelica Huston, another plus!) had fallen in love with him and had a child with him.  He was gorgeous, charming, and his voice would basically paralyze any woman around!  I knew after seeing Sam Elliott in that role, we were going to enjoy a long and happy relationship together through my newly formed obsession!  It's an admittedly small role in the movie, but it was enough for me!  

After Buffalo Girls I picked up a lot of movies with Sam Elliott, many of which you'll probably end up reading about here, if you're reading this, that is.  Mask was another one of my favorites.  Now I got to see Sam not as Wild Bill Hickok, but as a bad A biker!  He was just as amazing as he was in Buffalo Girls, but I got a different taste to what he was capable of.  It was also an added bonus to see him with Cher, another obsession.  (If you haven't noticed, a lot of my obsessions overlap, leading me always to question which obsession begot the other.)  He's both sensitive and tough in the movie, and that signature voice and mustache are there for all the world to enjoy.  Besides that, who doesn't love a man who can sport leather (whether it be "animal hides" or a biker jacket) and look totally amazing in it?!  

Lily and Morticia

Lily Munster

Obsession Level: Dark and Devoted

Growing up with my generation there was an ongoing war.  What did you watch?  The Munsters or the Addams Family?  The truth was that we all watched both, but everyone had their favorite.  It boiled down to a good ole rivalry between the two families.  I guess it's somewhat akin to the Edward vs. Jacob "team mentality" that seems to be taking place among the teens that got sucked into Twilight.  (Don't even get me started on Twilight...I may have to dedicate a post just to the fact that Twilight was a total waste to me.)  In the wars between my friends and I it always seemed to boil down to who was your favorite "Dark Mom".  For me, it was hands down Lily Munster all the way!

Who didn't want to live in the Munster household?  Herman was a loveable goofball and I always laughed my head off when he got upset about something and destroyed everything in the process.  Eddie with his pointed ears and his werewolf doll was too cute!  Grandpa was amazing with his pills and potions and sleeping upside down in the laboratory.  He was a great vampire!  Lily was great, a lovely, doting mother and housewife.  It didn't matter that much of the food that she served was still alive, that could be overlooked.  In fact, the only one in the household that didn't impress me at all was Marilyn.  I know she was there to be the "normal" one, but basically she was the boring one.  As a child, I could never figure out why all the people in the show were afraid of Lily.  I didn't see anything frightening about her and she had the coolest costume.  I did, however, finally see a colored picture from the show and realized she at least suffered from bizarre coloring that wasn't obvious to those of us watching in black and white.  

Still, it was always hands down Lily.  I wasn't an Addams at heart, I was a Munster!


Morticia Addams (From the T.V. Program)

Obsession Level: Where's Lily?

As  you can guess from what I said before, I just wasn't an Addams freak.  I didn't think the show was all that funny.  I realize it takes a certain sense of humor to get the show, but it didn't really seem all that dark to me, just kind of stupid.  I could certainly pass, and most times I did, on watching the show.  It was really only good if it was the only thing on.  Really, if it hadn't been for Lurch, Thing, and Cousin It, I wouldn't have found any redeeming qualities in the show for myself.  



Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston)

Obsession Level: She's The Diva of Darkness!

That being said about the classic television program of the Addams Family, my feelings are completely different about the movies.  It should be said that Anjelica Huston will eventually have her own obsession post here, so I'll only talk about her role in this movie here.  She stepped up the character of Morticia and gave her what she was missing.  Morticia became so much darker, so much dryer, and so much more "sexy" when Anjelica played her that she was hardly recognizable as the classic, mousy t.v. character.  

The movie's entire take on the show was so much better than the show.  It was far darker than the program and there was a tone of snarkiness that ran through the movie that just made it perfect.  I wanted to be an Addams!  Everyone in the movie took the characters from the show to an entirely new level.  

I have to say, if the Addams family from the movie had been the characters on the show, and if the tone of the show had been more like the movie, I would have been a dedicated viewer.  In fact, I would have had a very hard time taking a side in the Addams vs. Munsters debate.