The
Hon. John Goodnight is not exactly the Judge Dredd of the old west, but his
skill with a sidearm can often cut down on the paperwork. Nonetheless, he tries to dispense justice in
accordance with the law, even if it is of a frontier variety. This is both frustrating and endearing to a
lady confidence artist on the run from a former mark in Goodnight for Justice: Queen of Hearts (promo here), which airs on
the Hallmark Movie Channel this Saturday.
Goodnight
has established a sterling reputation as a western circuit court judge, but it
is a solitary life on the road. Occupational
hazards come with the job, but Goodnight can take care of himself. He also starts taking care of Ms. Lucy
Truffaut when her stage coach is attacked by Col. Cyril Knox (ret.) and his
henchmen. Actually, the stage was hired
by the Pinkerton taking Ms. Truffaut to justice, but he will not live long
enough to tell Goodnight that. Instead,
she will convince him she is an heiress pursued by would be kidnappers. Her smooth talking charm and low cut dress
are quite convincing, but it is only a matter of time before her story
craters. Knox is not giving up either,
even if Goodnight is a judge.
It
is always nice to see a new western produced for a major media outlet. That said, Queen’s first two acts are sort of pokey and it features some of
the dullest card games you will ever see on TV.
On the plus side, Luke Perry is clearly comfortable with his western
franchise hero and he develops some nicely suggestive chemistry with Katharine
Isabelle’s Truffaut. Of course, this
being Hallmark, it takes him a good long time to get any sugar out the deal.
Ricky
Schroder (evidently he stopped fighting the “y”) wears the black hat quite well
as Col. Knox, brooding and glowering with NYPD
Blue intensity. He has a good
western look, which ought to serve him well in Wild Hearts, an upcoming contemporary western family drama he also
directed and co-wrote for Hallmark (but sounds far too wholesome for any of us miscreants).
