When I first heard about Cowboys and Aliens, I wasn’t sure about this mix. The fusion of cowboys with aliens sounded cheesy, more like a Troma production than major studio material. I was expecting something silly and camp like “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” or “Toxic Avenger.” But because of the stellar performances by all of the cast, especially Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, it worked. The film starts out as the classic Wetsern with a “High Noon” style storyline – the Lone Man riding into a struggling one-horse town. However, the story quickly morphs into an action-packed, man vs. alien story. Craig has a face just made for Westerns and combines grit with while Ford is always a welcome addition to any film. I have always adored Olivia Wilde and she is picture perfect and provides the movie’s twist. Jon Favreau may just be the coolest director in Hollywoodland having now brought us both the awesome “Iron Man” series and now this sequel ready franchise. The one minute change I would’ve made is the inclusion of some African-American faces. My great grandfather was a proud cowboy, who had his own ranch and sold horses to and played poker with Frank and Jesse, so I know some black folks existed in these type of towns.
It is difficult to talk about this film without giving too much away, so suffice it to say, that there are thrills, chills, laughs, and tears. I spent the majority of the film, like a small child just discovering the wonders of movie making, with mouth agape Rather than a special effects laden sci-fi flick, Cowboys and Aliens is character driven and we actually get to know and love the characters before they become alien movie meat. The chemistry between Ford and Craig is classic buddy movie stuff, although I could’ve used a little more “sexy time” between red-hot Craig and Wilde! Cowboys and Aliens is perfect for every type of movie outing. Fun for the whole family, it is also a great date night or girl’s night out film.
A TGATP Olivia Wilde story: Olivia and I worked together on the, unfortunately, short-lived, NBC series “The Black Donnellys”. It was a great cast and crew bar one completely insane and mean craft service lady, who used to actually be rude to the producers who signed her checks!. She was so obnoxious that she was actually referred to as “the Craft Nazi”! Although we shot a ton of episodes and I was sure it would be a hit, the show was cancelled after just two episodes as it was more appropriate for cable than a network. Olivia was a real sweetheart and I am totally in love with her dog, Paco, who was the Old Navy dog for awhile. I later hung with Olivia and her ex-husband Tao Ruspoli at a NY house party for his movie,“Fix” and am very sorry to hear of their split.
