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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Essence Of The Book, November 25, 2002
This review is from: American Mystery! Special: Skinwalkers (DVD)
Last night on PBS, Americans were able to view the first of the "American" mysteries in PBS's long-running Mystery series AND were finally treated to a Tony Hillerman novel done as a movie in accessible and successful form. [Dark Wind was made into a major motion picture and only released on video. Despite the miscastings, I think it is worth tracking down a copy.] Skinwalkers finds Lt. Joe Leaphorn, city indian and rationalist, working with Officer Jim Chee, traditionalist and wannabe medicine man, trying to solve a series of killings involving medicine men on the Navajo Reservation. The link between the murders appears to be an old paint factory and some decades old cases of lead poisoning. Joe's wife Emma's cancer has returned and Jim meets city indian public defender Janet Pete. As with any Hillerman story, the landscape is a major character and the human characters play out the inner and outer conflicts of what it means to be an indian. The casting is Native American where it should be [albeit not necessarily Navajo]. One of the more glaring errors involves Lt. Leaphorn's office wall map, which is missing in action from the movie. [My Mother called me right after the airing and that is the first thing that we mentioned to each other!] My big complaint concerns the setting. It appears the film was shot around Superior, Arizona, an area far to the south of the rez and the red rock country of the Colorado Plateau. For people who have not read any Hilllerman, this may not be a problem, but for people who have read the novels, this will probably be worse than any of the changes that were made to the story when it was converted into a screenplay. All in all, Skinwalkers kept the essence of the original novel and shows that you can successfully film a Tony Hilerman novel.
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Hillerman adaptation in name only, December 2, 2002
This review is from: American Mystery! Special: Skinwalkers (DVD)
Except for the title, "Skinwalkers", starring Adam Beach and Wes Studi, bears little resemblance to the Tony Hillerman novel upon which it is supposedly based. The plot involves the murders of several Navajo medicine men (haatali), but beyond that never really deals with the issue of witches (the Skinwalkers of the title) or witchcraft that was so central to the book. In fact, it seems that the script writers hadn't even bothered to read Hillerman's novel but rather some Cliff Notes version that sketched out the plot that was then subsequently altered out of all recognition. As in many film adaptations of novels, characters are conflated and story elements dropped. None of this would be a problem if the script and direction were up to par, which, unfortunately, they are not. The talents of Studi and Beach are wasted here. The directing is flat and by the numbers, a fault accentuated by the poor writing. Studi's character, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal (Nation) Police is particularly ill-served. The movie version of Leaphorn, unlike his literary namesake, is completely clueless about his own Navajo culture and may as well be an Iroquois dropped into the middle of the "Rez". Adam Beach's character Jim Chee comes off a bit better, if only because he's more true to his literary roots--a Navajo police officer studying to be a haatali. On the plus side, the film does not shy away from some of the social problems that afflict many of those living on the reservation, particularly the terrible effects of alcholism, poverty, and, now, gang culture (this last did not factor in the book). The first two, especially, figure prominently in most of the Chee/Leaphorn volumes. Director Chris Eyre also handles the generational tension between Leaphorn and Chee in a fairly deft manner, leaving intact the counterintuitive viewpoints of the two men: Leaphorn the older, rationalist cop and Chee, the younger and more traditional officer. "Skinwalkers", the second attempt to adapt one of Hillerman's books (the ill-fated "The Dark Wind" was the first), ultimately disapoints. Hillerman fans will have to wait awhile longer for a film (or, better yet, miniseries) that does justice to its source material.
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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well done, I enjoyed it., March 3, 2003
This review is from: American Mystery! Special: Skinwalkers (DVD)
1. OK, so it isn't the book. Not word for word, not even in many respects the plot--so what? The first movie from a Hillerman novel, The Dark Wind, was the book, all the different plot lines, and while the book was really good, it was way too convoluted for a movie. I certainly don't blame the producer for opting for a plot which a moviewatcher could follow. 2. Given that, they did a very good job of keeping the Navajo mysticism, yet making a movie one could follow without having to have read the book first. I heartily recommend this movie to anyone interested in a good mystery, Tony Hillerman's work, reservation life, or Navajo culture. It isn't completely any of the last three, but it is an introduction to all of them while it is completely a good mystery. 3. Jim Chee is one of my favorite characters in literature. Adam Beach is probably too good looking to fit my image of Chee, but for sure he captured the spirit of Chee from the novels. The character of Joe Leaphorn is largely different from the novels and I wish they hadn't made that departure. But that said, the movie Leaphorn is a solid detective and once I got used to the difference I got over it. Not the same as the novel, but see #1 above. Would you rather have no movie, or have one with some changes? I choose to have the movie. I choose to get over being a purist. I've only seen two movies ever which seemed to be almost rigidly true to their novels, and both of those movies were falures. I enjoyed this movie, and there wasn't anything in it which conflicts with the themes and spirit of Hillerman's novels. 4. The women in the movie do not have the screen time the men do, but their parts are important to the script and very well played by the actresses. The movie does keep Leaphorn's tender devotion to his wife, which is really well done, and Chee's conflicting feelings and relationship with Janet Pete are both realistic and well played. 5. When I say I'll take the movie I'm not suggesting that it is some kind of consolation prize. It's a good movie in it's own right. I wasn't completely spellbound, so I only give it four stars, but I gave it four because it deserves them. If you want to sit there and compare it to the novel, give it penalty points for each variance, go ahead and be a disappointed purist. But if you like good, well acted, mystery movies, particularly ones with an introduction to another culture, you will be glad you chose this one. More, Mr. Redford, give us more of these excellent adaptations of Tony Hillerman's absolutely excellent work and characters.
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