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| Protecting the West! LONGMIRE has arrived. Images: TCM and A&E TELEVISION. |
Following hot on the heels of Timothy Olyphant’s starring vehicle in JUSTIFIED comes another intriguing entry into the contemporary western genre- LONGMIRE, inspired by the popular, best selling detective stories of the popular character Sheriff Walt Longmire, created by Craig Johnson, and arriving on the UK’s TCM HD channel from this Sunday, 17thMarch.
Looking like he’s stepped out of a Marlboro Man cigarette ad from the seventies, respected Aussie actor Robert Taylor does a sterling job of bringing the weathered faced, grizzled lawman with a sly sense of grounded humour to life for the small screen, in this enjoyably low-key but well-made series with solid scripting and a modern visual spin from THE CLOSERs Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny. Think McCloud meets Fargo, with an old-style slice of historical Americana thrown in and you’ll get the picture…
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| Beauty and danger await Longmire (Robert Taylor) in equal measure... |
Trying to regain some sense and purpose to his life and career after the death of his wife and a break-up with his estranged daughter, Longmire is very much one of the last remnants of the Old West: dry as the desert but a determined presence- old school, not good with technology and relying on his knowledge and experience of a place where everybody knows everybody, where love, hate and rivalries are amplified within its small town environs, and where the modern equivalents of saloons and seedy, dusty trailer parks and Indian reservation areas hide secrets and lies amidst their old time traditions and continuing conflicts. The law of the gun is also still very much alive and kicking here.
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| Katee Sackhoff brings some welcoming sparky sex appeal to the series as Deputy Vic Moretti. |
Aiding Longmire in his crime fighting duties are a small but quirkily effective team of deputies, soon finding the outside modern world and its problems getting closer and closer to their back door, including spunky fish-out-of-water heroine Vic Moretti (Katee Sackhoff, eschewing the cramped environs of a colonial viper in sci-fi epic BATTLESTAR GALACTICA for something a lot more down to earth), and ambitious rival for his job, Branch (Bailey Chase). Giving advice mixed with hard-edged banter is Longmire’s childhood friend, American Indian bar owner Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Philips)- sometimes helping, sometimes hindering him in his investigations…
A missing American Indian girl and a far away from home teacher found dead in the snowy wastes get the series off to a subtly effective start (handled by SOUTHLAND veteran Christopher Chulack), whilst episode two sees Longmire and his team unravel the mystery of a fiery suicide victim whose prized horse collection have been set ablaze with him…
UK Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjC1ksvf4Pk
US trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-ZrF2HJjY
About the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9NtHe0zCVI
With its striking rusty brown cinematography mixed with stunningly atmospheric location scenery, showing Wyoming at its most vividly beautiful and wildly dangerous, LONGMIRE, a big hit Stateside, is sure to win a similarly devoted following in the UK.
Best watched wearing a big Stetson, alongside a strong brewing black coffee…
Katee Sackhoff interview: http://www.virginmedia.com/what-to-watch/features/longmire-interview-katee-sackhoff.php
TCM FACEBOOK page: https://www.facebook.com/TCMUK?fref=ts
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