John Goodman's Only Western Is An Underseen HBO TV Movie That's Worth A Watch

Though the Western remained popular up until the 1970s, many screen legends didn't dabble in the genre all that much. Jack Nicholson didn't make a lot of Westerns simply because he refused to be pigeonholed. Still, even he appeared in five oaters in his career. The great John Goodman, on the other hand, only made one. In 1999, he co-starred alongside John Cusack in "The Jack Bull," an HBO movie that told the story of a Wyoming horse trader who clashes with a cruel and corrupt local rancher.

Unlike when John Wayne struggled to break out of Westerns, Goodman never really entertained the genre at all — which seems flat out incorrect when you first hear it. As easy as it is to envision him in the Old West, the actor only ever made "The Jack Bull," but he made sure to make the most of his brief time on the frontier, delivering arguably the best performance of the entire film. If only "The Jack Bull" was better remembered, Goodman might have received more acclaim for his portrayal of a morally upstanding judge. Unfortunately, this HBO movie has been well and truly forgotten. 

The film was written by playwright Dick Cusack, father of John, who loosely based the story on Heinrich von Kleist's 1810 novel "Michael Kohlhaas." That book was, in turn, based on the 16th-century story of German merchant Hans Kohlhase, which chronicled his battle against a nobleman which escalated into a full-on war. In "The Jack Bull," the younger Cusack is the one waging the war. Goodman only arrives when things have gone too far.

"The Jack Bull" is directed by John Badham, best known for "Saturday Night Fever" and "Short Circuit," but also the man who gave us the '90s thriller that reminds us of a simpler time at the movies "Nick of Time." In the late '90s, he turned his attention to TV, directing John Cusack as horse trader and rancher Myrl Redding, who quickly clashes with local landowner Henry Ballard (L.Q. Jones).

"The Jack Bull" is a pretty bleak story overall. But it's also about the little man standing up for what's right. When Redding tries to take his horses to market, he's forced to pay a toll by Ballard, who already disagrees with Cusack's rancher over Wyoming becoming a state. Instead of paying the toll, Redding leaves two horses behind, but returns to find them abused and malnourished. If Ballard had known what kind of trouble this was going to cause he probably would have taken better care of the stallions.

Instead, after Redding fails to get any support from the legal system, he takes matters into his own hands, waging war against Ballard and his goons with the help of his ranch hands and a gang of hired militiamen. Miranda Otto plays Redding's wife Cora, who's sadly killed as a result of hostilities fairly quickly. By the time John Goodman's kind-hearted but formidable Judge Joe B. Tolliver steps in, things have gotten out of hand. He does his best to hear Redding's case and apply the law fairly, but is well aware of the fact that tragedy could have been avoided had the law sided with Redding earlier. It all culminates in a shockingly bleak ending. Thankfully, Goodman's performance alone makes it all worth it.

While the Western was no longer big box office business by the late '90s, oaters were still doing relatively well on the small screen. What's more, TV had proved to be a worthy platform for the horse opera in the latter part of the 20th Century, producing multiple highlights including the groundbreaking Western miniseries "Lonesome Dove." "The Jack Bull" didn't make anything like the impact of that show, but it did enjoy a respectable response from critics, who found much to like about John Badham's film.

"The Jack Bull" has an 80% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, though that is based on just five reviews. Still, there's clearly a lot to like about this overlooked HBO Western — including John Goodman who impressed several critics with his portrayal of Judge Joe B. Tolliver just a year after he'd re-teamed with the Coen Brothers to play Walter Sobchak in "The Big Lebowski." Laura Fries of Variety described his performance as "outstanding," while the Austin Chronicle's Louis Black praised the "surprisingly sophisticated Western" and highlighted Goodman as a standout. Not that it's surprising to hear him receiving such commendations. Despite his remarkable talent, Goodman remains one of several great actors to have not been nominated for an Oscar. Not that "The Jack Bull" would have changed that, but even here he couldn't help but steal the show.

It's not just Goodman who delivers in "The Jack Bull," either. Cusack received his share of praise, as did John C. McGinley in his role as a faithful wrangler who sticks by Myrl Redding throughout his ordeal. All of which makes for an unfairly forgotten Western which is well worth seeking out.