Lewis and Clark and George
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| Lewis and Clark and George | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover |
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| Directed by | Rod McCall |
| Produced by | Dan Gunther J. Todd Harris |
| Written by | Rod McCall |
| Starring | Rose McGowan Dan Gunther Brian Taylor Salvator Xuereb |
| Music by | Ben Vaughn |
| Cinematography | Michael Mayers |
| Editing by | Ed Marx |
| Release date(s) | October 4, 1997 |
| Running time | 82 mins |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lewis and Clark and George is a 1996 comedy crime thriller film directed by Rod McCall.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Lewis and Clark and George opens with Salvator Xuereb (playing Lewis) and Dan Gunther (Clark) at a water tank site wearing prison jump suits. The scene is desert scrub and the two state prison escapees have just located a buried metal box with a loaded revolver, treasure map, and Cuban cigars. A road trip begins as the two hike off through the desert to find the treasure. Lewis is the stereotyped violent criminal: a prison inmate with literacy and social skills problems. He can't read: a common problem among real-life U.S. prison inmates. (Illiteracy is portrayed partly as a comic gag in the film: at least three characters cannot read.) A dissonance comes from Clark's bigger vocabulary, better literacy, and his being more trusting of others.
With a prominent photo on the jacket and above-the-title-billing, Rose McGowan is the George mentioned in the title. Like her appearances in the WB Charmed series, McGowan is well lip glossed, well lit, and made up. The George character is a tough role because the character does not talk. Instead, she communicates with gestures, facial expressions, eye movements, and by wagging the cigars she smokes throughout the film. While morally adventurous, George is a strong female role. She is not easily exploited. She exploits the sexual ambition of one or more male characters to get what she wants. The character has an unusual interest in shooting Polaroid photographs of people she meets while traveling. The character's teeth are unusually white for one who smokes stogies.
Locations used are in or near Hillsboro, Sierra County, New Mexico. Other locations include Kingston and the A & B Drive In in Truth or Consequences.
Some people would call this a guns and boobs movie. The film is rated R and includes nudity, simulated sex, foul language, alcohol abuse in the presence of a minor, and violence. Over a dozen characters are injured or killed by traumatic gunshot injuries in the film. One character's main means of communication seems to be by fatally shooting other characters. Avarice and violence is central to the entire plot line, including the curvy last minutes. Law enforcement people are often portrayed as incompetent and vindictive. Some viewers saw the film as teaching that greed has consequences.
The copyright date is 1996 and the film runs about 90 minutes.
[edit] Technical
The film captures the color and shadow of the American desert southwest. There are almost no dolly and crane shots. Much of the film takes place in large American cars driving along desert highways. The sound recordists and foley artists did a good job weaving appropriate sounds such as the idle of a V8 engine or the transmit function tone of a two-way radio system. The ticking sound from the rental trailer in the film helped the viewer follow this one detail of the film. The scoring and ambient sound levels have an appropriate (nice and wide) dynamic range. The film makers were meticulous with most details such as car door slam sounds and their timing. Even George's Polaroid camera sounded right and was timed accurately.
Two of the speeded-up sequences, including the one where the blue Cadillac arrives at the café, challenged the laws of physics. A few minor sounds were flops. Chang's telephone shown on screen was one with a Western Electric C-4A ringer but the ringing sound used was from the ringer of an Automatic Electric phone. The siren sounds in two scenes were warped by the film staff to end with a downward pitch which didn't sound real.
[edit] Cast
After Lewis, Clark, and George, the rest of the cast includes:
- Aki Aleong (Chang)
- Paul Bartel (police officer)
- E. E. Bell (postal worker)
- James Brolin (preacher)
- Richard Butterfield (local)
- Tamara Chatterbuck (prostitute)
- Destiny Esposito (illiterate gun dealer)
- Jerry Gardner (Ford pickup driver)
- Jane (dog)
- Art La Fleur (Fred - the bowling guy)
- Suzzannne Mari (Nefertiti the prostitute)
- Corrinne Michaels (tourist)
- Delana Michaels (tourist)
- Ruben Moreno (Jane's sidekick)
- Paula Sorge (illiterate mom Tamee)
- Holly Riddle (Betty sitting on curb in front of Furr's)
- Brian Taylor (George's boyfriend)
