It is a performances centric movie

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

RELEASED TO TV IN 1991 and directed by Reynaldo Villalobos, "Conagher" stars Sam Elliott as taciturn noble cowboy, Conn Conagher, who contends with rustlers (Gavan O'Herlihy, et al.) while concerned about a struggling widow raising her two kids on a remote homestead (Katharine Ross). Although this was a Turner production (TNT), it doesn't seem like a TV movie and harkened the realistic Westerns that were to come, including TV Westerns like "Monte Walsh" (2003) and TV shows like Hell on Wheels. Of course realistic Westerns which illustrated the hard, mundane life of people in the Old West weren't anything new, as witnessed by movies like "Shane" (1953), "Will Penny" (1967), "Hombre" (1967) and "Bad Company" (1972), but there's something about "Conagher" that especially smacks of the way it really was, which is akin to "Son of the Morning Star," released earlier the same year. The quaint, mundane score helps in achieving this tone. While the music doesn't trip my trigger, as it's just too humdrum, it fits the feel of the film.For those not in the know, Elliott and Ross have been married since 1984, which probably helped with the palpable "love at first sight" element. Speaking of which, whilst this is a realistic Western about the many challenges of life in the Old West (sudden death, loneliness, hard outdoor work, the elements, Indian threats, corruption, outlaws, gunfights, etc.), there's a romantic component with Evie Teale (Ross) attaching snippets of poetry to tumbleweeds that Conn inevitably finds (unbeknownst to Evie). THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 34 minutes and was shot mostly in Arizona, but also Colorado (Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway). WRITERS: Louis L'Amour (novel) and Jeffrey M. Meyer (teleplay) with additional dialogue by Elliott and Ross.GRADE: B

This was a solid lower-key Louis L'Amour-written western, meaning a little bit less action than the normal film of its genre. The action scenes they did have in here were short, too.This is mainly a movie with several stories weaved in it: 1 - Cowhands slowly being sifted out as the times change and they are no longer needed; 2 - traitors among the main group, men who go to a competing gang of rustlers; 3 - a story of a lonely widow who has to take care of two kids after he husband disappears (killed).Katharine Ross is the mother ("Evie Teale") who turns cook at a lonely stagecoach stop that also is being eliminated. She is a good woman, and it's nice to see the female star of "Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid" still looking good out there is the prairie over 20 years later. Also refreshing to see was her young boy "Laban," one of the nicest, most respectful kids I've ever seen on film: the exact opposite of the many brats I've seen on film in the last quarter of the 20th century. Cody Braun was excellent as the son, and, that's the only movie role he ever played.The man "Evie" eventually falls for is the hero of the film, "Conagher," played by Sam Elliott. If anyone in the modern era of films ever looked like he was born to play a cowboy, it has to be Elliott. He has the weathered looks and the voice that go perfectly with westerns.Overall, this is another beautifully-photographed, nice story and a real "keeper" for those who love a good fim of this genre.

Sam Elliot is the quintessential cowboy, and this film allows him to portray the Louis L'Amour character perfectly. He is dangerous, gruff, decisive, courteous, as well as gentle and loving. He can stay in the fight after sustaining injuries that would lay-up a normal man, and prosecute the fight to the fullest extent. He can spend days on the trail, enduring the hardships, but will wash his hands before eating dinner. He is the perfect gentleman to a lady, as well as a hard-boiled barroom brawler. He always plays fair - one reason the cowboy in film history has become such an admirable personality. Sam also is able to portray "the same character" in The Quick & The Dead, with Kate Capshaw and Tom Conti, also a Louis L'Amour adaptation. The only reason not to absolutely love this picture is that is "made for network TV" picture, and there is limited to the fullscreen format and only has mono sound.

I can hardly put into words ,my love for this movie.I have seen it at least 50 times.I wore out the first video and have started on my second one.I am a great fan of Louis L'amour and the making of this book into a film was one of the best things that could have happened,for me.The cast and crew could not have been better picked. The roles of Evie and Conagher could not have been better done than with the husband and wife team of Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross.I am transported to the old west every time I watch this movie.I suppose I like it so much because the book does the same thing when I read it.It is a movie to enjoy time and time again.