The Wicked Wicked West

 

Painted Angels – U.K. title

The Wicked Wicked West – Canadian title

Ángeles pintados – Argentinian title

Anjos Pintados – Brazilian title

Langenneet enkelit – Finnish title

Angeli del west – Italian title

The Wicked Wicked West – U.S.A. title

 

A 1998 British, Canadian film production [British Screen Productions, BBC (London),

     Greenpoint Films, Heartland Motion Pictures, Cinépix Film Properties, SOCO,

     SaskFilm, Shaftesbury Films, Téléfilm Canada (Toronto)]

     Producers: Mark Shivas, Christina Jennings (Mackenzie Donaldson), Stephen Onda,

      Ann Scott, Laurence Bowen, Scott Garvie

Director: Jon Sanders

Story: Anna Mottram, Jon Sanders

Screenplay: Anna Mottram, Jon Sanders

Cinematography: Gerald Packer [color]

Music: Douglas Finch

Running time: 110 minutes

 

Cast:

Annie Ryan – Brenda Fricker

Nettiw – Kelly McGillis

Katya - Meret Becker

Eileen - Bronagh Gallagher

Georgie - Lisa Jakub

Ada - Anna Mottram

Doctor Belcher – Kent Allen

Sam – Alan Bratt

Oscar – Dwayne Brenna

Joe – Michael Burns

Judge – Bob Clout

Julia - Elyssa Dombowsky

Charlie Masterson – Joseph Griffin

Johnny Dow – Greg Lawson

Frank McGuinn – Bruce McFee

Olinska - Andrea Rodrigue

Nun - Jodi Sadowsky

Billy - Keiran Semple

Mazeppa - Michelle Sereda

Louie – Robert Wu

With: Wayne Apostle, Ian Black, Harold Gillespie, Susan Hamann, Charlotte Kallichuk, Tamara Lapchuk, Iain MacLean, Kristian Marken, Wendy McDonald, David McIntyre, Greg McKinnon, Billy Morton (William Morton), Darren Muscoby, Ian Nestegaard Paul, Dimitri Van Zwanenberg, Juanita Vogelgesang

Welcome to a whorehouse in a small Western town. With the exception of the men being serviced, no one is thrilled to be here, though most of the working girls have nowhere else to turn.

Owner Annie Ryan (Brenda Fricker) is fighting to stay open. A local saloon owner named Frank is trying to have her place shut down, though he runs whores out of his business as well.

Her girls include petty young Georgie (Lisa Jukub), who knows all the men want her because she’s “fresh meat). She dreams of working in a big city house where she can sip wine from crystal glasses. Then there’s Ada, who’s trying to support three children and growing too old in the eyes of the clientele.

Eileen has just lost her best friend in the place; she was gunned down by a jealous ex-lover. Eileen dreams of returning to her homeland of Ireland. In the meantime, she finds a new friend in Katya, a former dancer who claims she can see into the future.

The survivor of the bunch is Nettie (Kelly McGillis). She has a son being raised by a drunken husband. For a while, she thinks the whorehouse would be a better place to raise him. Eventually, she changes her mind.

Review

Lots of folks have probably looked at the title and the subject matter and figured they’re in for a fun romp of a movie, old West style with a broad dash of sex added in for good measure.

If so, they’ve been mightily disappointed. This is a serious look at the women working inside the bordello, and theirs is not a happy or satisfying life. And it’s difficult to perceive anything that happens in the movie as “sexy.”

A film taking that approach is admirable, perhaps. The problem is that, outside the experiences of the women living inside Annie Ryan’s house, there’s no plot to follow. The result: the film is both bleak and boring.

Kelly McGillis was nearly a decade removed from her starring role in “Top Gun” (1986) when this film was made. You might also recognize Lisa Jakub in the role of Georgia; she played the daughter in “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993).

By Mark Franklin