Powwow Highway

Gary Farmer deserves to be remembered as one of the best character actors of all time.

It's a little hokey when trying to balance so many NDN viewpoints but damn I want Gary Farmer to be a star so bad.

The core story is compelling. Two Cheyenne Indians -- one a starry-eyed, childlike man infatuated with the legends and imagery of the old Indian warrior; the other an aggressive political activist fixated on escaping from the past. The script, and some of the acting, is quite rough, and the film ends up spreading itself too thin, with additional symbolic characters fuzzying things up and a goofy running-from-the-cops development. Still very worth watching.

Not an entirely satisfying experience (things are somewhat silly at the end) but a very good film. Gary Farmer gives a standout performance, and the rest of the cast is quite excellent. Full of some really great moments and gives you a glimpse into Native American reservation life that many of us are unfamiliar with.

The film has it's ups and downs, it main downs being that it's boring and is filled with weak dialogue. Gary Farmer delivers an excellent performance and serves as the film's saving grace, and there is some beautiful scenery here. However, A Martinez is a little over the top, it's like he was trying too hard to be Tom Cruise. The film plays like a spiritual Rain Man but not as well written. Overall it's not a very exciting watch with a pretty obnoxious score.

Four outta five reviews here contain effusive praise for Gary Farmer, and it is indeed hard to oversell the seemingly effortless perfection of his performance. Martinez doesn't fare as well, but that's more the script--bits like the stereo episode clearly convey the distorted perception stoked by chronic resentment, no matter how justified that resentment is, but could've used some fine-tuning. Goes double for the creaky plotting, but can't say it detracted too much. Motherfucking Gary Farmer.