Customer Reviews

Navajo Blues

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

'Navajo Blues' not only looks and sounds like a low budget made-for-television movie, but it has the dubious distinct of having one of the worst musical soundtracks I've ever heard.

Plot: Big city cop Nick Epps (Steven Bauer) is the key witness in a murder case involving a major gang figure. He is temporarily re-assigned to a remote Indian Reservation under an assumed name (John Cole) to hide out until the trial commences. A female Reservation police officer, Audrey Wyako (Irene Bedard) is assigned to the newcomer and immediately there is a clash between big city law enforcement tactics and the Indian way of handling things.

Nothing new or exciting here as you might have guessed. A series of murders begin to take place on the Reservation and the two finally reconcile their differences in order to work together and solve the case. Romance also blooms between Epps/Cole and Officer Wyako's younger sister Elizabeth (Charlotte Lewis).

Now for the reason why such a bad movie receives -3 Stars-. I bought this DVD for one reason and one reason only. Because it stars Irene Bedard. She's a beautiful actress that just never got that one big break that would have made her a major star. Best known as the voice of 'Pocahontas' in the animated Disney feature film of the same name, most of her on-camera time has been religated to small independent films like 'Smoke Signals' or television movies. Her best work thus far, 'Lakota Woman: Seige At Wounded Knee' is yet to make it to the DVD format.

-2 Stars- for the film / -4 Stars- for Irene Bedard = -3 Stars- Overall

Just like my summary says... this movie reeks of low budget and the poor acting that goes with it. But, if you just want to enjoy Irene Bedrad's beauty for an hour or so... why not... she's in it.

This is a low budget film, and some of the sets look kinda cheap and sparse. Steven Bauer is a Las Vegas cop that the mob wants to kill, so Bauer is hidden by the LVPD on a Navajo reservation as a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer.

Irene Bedard is a Navajo cop assigned to chaperon him. Her sister, Charlotte Lewis (with an English accent that's explained by her having a BBC reporter father and going to Oxford), falls in love with Bauer, and he with her.

Bauer helps Bedard investigate a serial killer (a Navajo witch who kills for ritual reasons), then Bedard helps Bauer confront the mob.

Ed O-Ross is creepily effective as the blue-eyed Indian witch (not the only blue-eyed Indian on this reservation). We know he's the killer from the start, so this is no mystery film. O'Ross plays creepy well. He was even creepy as the hero cop in PLAY NICE. And that Indian cop from TWIN PEAKS (Michael Horse) has a bit part as Bedard's boss -- always nice to seem him.

Unfortunately, this film is also marred by blantant and sometimes PC expository dialogue. When Bedard and Lewis wake up in a teepee, they say things like:

Lewis: "I love this land." (i.e., Native Americans are close to the Earth.)

Bedard: "I love the twentieth century." (However, we mustn't think them primitive.)

Lewis: "I love my people." (And please know that they have a strong sense of community; why don't we ever hear German or Canadian characters in films saying, "I love my people.")

This exchange continues, in which Lewis tells us that she loves her grandfather (performing a tribal ritual outside the teepee), and Lewis and Bedard tell each other they love each other (so we know that Indians have strong family values).

This is the sort of thing that should be shown through character behavior. Nobody talks like this. It's done to label the characters and telegraph the script's Messages.

Naturally, characters bring up "Indianess" as an issue several times in the film. And some sterotypical Rednecks make racist remarks (is this common nowadays?) despite Bedard being in uniform. Bauer beats them up to defend Bedard (so we can see that he's non-racist), but then Bedard beats one up too (so we can see that despite being a woman, she's strong; so we have a feminist Message there too).

Blatant Messages are common in films about little-seen minorities; I suppose the filmmakers feel a responsibility to "get it right." But the downside is the characters become symbols rather than people.

Even so, Bedard and Lewis are attractive and charming, and the blatant expositions and messages are mostly in the beginning, less so after the film gets rolling.

A mildly entertaining film, worth a few bucks if you can get a used copy on the cheap.

At one time, a few years ago, when I thought of Steve Bauer, I'd think of Thief of Hearts. Now, after seeing this, it just gives me shudders. Not only was his acting abdominable, his appearance was awful. Someone (Hollywood guru) help this guy through whatever he is going through!

Irene Bedard did a good job playing a Navajo, good film and worth the money. Fun story and captures the native view and culture very well.

The acting and theme of this film is fictional and degrading of the culture it is trying to present. I rate this film next to zero because it does nothing but create more typical sterotypes of the Navajo people.

Nick Epps (Bauer) is a cop in trouble. He's seen a mob hit and now he's got to go into Witness Protection until the trial. They hide him on the Navajo Reservation under the name of John Cole. In the typical cop 'odd couple' scenario, Epps/Cole is assigned to Officer Audrey Wyako (Bedard) on a Navajo Indian Reservation.

Naturally, things heat up on the rez as soon as Cole gets there. A serial killer Not Lightning Struck (Ed O'Ross) is the very creepy perp, a Navajo witch.

There's so much wrong with this film, it's hard to say what to discuss first. It's just cheesy. First, with all the wonderful Native American music they could use, the soundtrack is just bad. Second, the dialog is dreadful. Third, there's just no mystery and I'm pretty blue that there's very little Navajo culture involved.

The only good aspect of this film is Bedard. She's beautiful and excellent as always.

Rebecca Kyle, September 2008

This one would not receive a film festival award. You will not learn about the, Din'e (Navajo) People (for that you need to read -no movie will do that for you). Decent bang for the buck.

Not good! I love Irene Bedard, but she should have stayed away from this project.