High Noon (2000) Movie Review

If there is a universal law in cinema, it is this: Make a western for cable TV, and Tom Skerritt will come a-running. Doesn't matter if the movie's any good or not, Skerritt is your man.

High Noon, a remake of the 1952 film starring Gary Cooper, puts Skerritt in the role of the now-immortal cop on the eve of his retirement. Newly married, our sheriff hero finds that his arch-enemy (Michael Madsen) has been pardoned by the governer, and he's on his way to the town to exact his revenge. The train arrives at noon... will he stay and fight or run away like the rest of the town?

Lifeless and without any semblance of color, heart, or reason for its existence at all, this remake was unnecessary and simply uncalled for. If you're going to remake High Noon (not one of my faves to begin with), remake it different -- set it in the future, or feudal Japan -- something that doesn't make me have to draw a comparison between Gary Cooper and Tom Skerritt.

That's a fight you can't win, folks.