Keith Carradine

Luke Kirby and Keith Carradine star in director Leonard Farlinger's adaptation of author Brad Smith's laid back neo-western novel. Ray Dokes (Kirby) has just been released from prison, and now as the laconic ex-con makes his way back home he is stunned to see just how much progress has transformed the countryside of his youth. Looking to lie low for a while, Ray heads to the farm of his good friend Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine). A garrulous farmer who's drowning in debt, Pete is a true Texas cowboy whose corn seems too stubborn to grow this season. The first order of business for Ray is to visit his old flame Etta (Lisa Ray, but things have gotten complicated since Ray was put away and making his way to the woman he loves isn't going to be nearly as easy as he had hoped. Soon after hooking up with firebrand jockey Chrissis (Rachel Leigh Cook), Ray discovers that his old nemesis Sonny Staunton (Noam Jenkins) - the wealthy heir to a thoroughbred dynasty - is currently attempting to buy up as much farmland as possible in order to start breaking ground on a luxurious new golf course. It seems that Etta is the only member of the rural community bold enough to stand up against Sonny, but when a valuable thoroughbred goes missing from Staunton Stables the desperate entrepreneur forces the sale of the area's few remaining farms. Realizing the danger of contending with such a powerful and determined man (after all, it was Sonny who got Ray locked away in the first place), Ray does his best to sideline Sonny's nefarious plan and save the remaining farmlands without making the one false move that could land him back in jail. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the sprawling six-part, 12-hour TV miniseries Into the West covers 65 years of American history, from the first major migration westward in the mid-1820s to the massacre at Wounded Knee in the early 1890s. The story is largely seen through the eyes of two protagonists (and their families): Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle), a wheelwright who leaves his Virginia hometown and his family's business in 1827 to seek his destiny in the company of legendary mountain man Jedediah Smith (Josh Brolin); and Loved by the Buffalo (George Leach), a Lakota Sioux holy man who spends a lifetime seeking the answers to his profound and disturbing images about the future of his country -- and his people. Eschewing the usual "old-age makeup" route often pursued in epic tales of this nature, the main characters are played by progressively older actors in the course of the story: for example, Loved by the Buffalo is portrayed by no fewer than four different performers! In a more traditionalist How the West Was Won vein, the miniseries is festooned with major stars, some cast in very brief roles: among these are Josh Brolin, Keri Russell, Matthew Modine, Beau Bridges, Gary Busey, Tom Berenger, and Judge Reinhold. Nor is How the West Was Won the only inspiration for the multi-plotted storyline: other films echoed and emulated throughout the saga include The Iron Horse, The Big Trail, Westward the Women, The Searchers, and Dances With Wolves. As mentioned, the story is divided into six parts: "Wheel to the Stars," in which the fates of Jacob Wheeler and Loved by the Buffalo become forever intertwined; "Manifest Destiny," chronicling the first major trek to California; "Dreams & Schemes," wherein the Lakota lands are despoiled by Gold Fever and war breaks out between the North and South; "Hell on Wheels," chronicling the postwar chaos and the coming of the railroad; "Casualties of War," wherein the conflict between Native Americans and the white man results in wholesale bloodshed -- and, surprisingly, a "counter-revolution" of compassion and understanding; and "Ghost Dance," the last great stand of the Lakota, which brings the story full circle. Largely filmed in the Canadian Rockies over a six-month period, and utilizing the talents of six directors, Into the West premiered June 10, 2005, on the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Welcome to Deadwood...a hell of a place to make your fortune." These are the words that serve as greeting for saddle-weary former lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) as he rides into the illegal Dakota Territory settlement of Deadwood, a scant few weeks after Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn. Before long, Bullock makes the acquaintance of another displaced Westerner, the cynical, burnt-out gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) -- and not long after that, both men have had their first run-in with town boss Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the confident, corrupt owner of the Gem Saloon (an establishment largely populated by flint-hearted whores). Thus begins season one of the iconoclastic HBO Western series Deadwood, arguably the most realistic program of its kind ever seen on American television. In the 11 episodes that follow the season opener, a group of vicious outlaws tries to foment another Indian war; Swearengen's status as the lord of the flies on the Deadwood dungheap is challenged by a Chicago "syndicate" (yes, they had them as far back as 1876); a valuable land claim held by feisty, wealthy frontierswoman Alma Garret (Molly Parker) becomes the focus of a deadly serious power struggle; the notorious Black Jack McCall (Garret Dillahunt) kills Hickok during a poker game (quite a jolt, to knock off one of the series' main characters so early in the game!); Deadwood is ravaged by an epidemic, during which the rambunctious but compassionate Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) becomes a legend; Bullock is marked for death after bringing a murderer to heel; Swearengen is double-crossed by duplicitous "working girl" Trixie (Paula Malcomson); the town's criminal element tries to block annexation of the Dakotas, which would bring much-despised law and order to the territory; a minister finds himself less welcome in town than an opium dealer; and at season's end, Seth Bullock becomes Deadwood's official sheriff -- a position that offers neither job security nor much chance for survival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Noble dog Balto returns in this direct-to-video sequel to the popular animated adventure that bears his name. Balto (voice of Maurice LaMarche) has retired from his chores as a sled dog, and his son Kodi (voice of Sean Astin) has taken his place. But Kodi's livelihood may be in danger when mail airplanes come to the frozen North, which threaten to make the post office's dog teams obsolete. In order to determine who can deliver the mail faster, the pilot of the carrier plane challenges the leaders of the dog teams to a race; however, when the mail plane is involved in a serious accident, Balto and Kodi must put aside the rivalry to help save injured pilot Duke (voice of Keith Carradine). Balto III: Winds of Change also features the voice talents of Jean Smart, David Paymer and Kathy Najimy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Originally produced for The History Channel, the documentary Wild West Tech: Gold Rush Tech shows how people at the time of the Gold Rush used the technology at their disposal to extract more gold. The program shows how numerous advancements over the years helped bring about further innovations. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This is a condensed version of the two-part Civil War Minutes III: Gettysburg and Stories of Valor documentary narrated by Keith Carradine. Edited to 56 minutes from the original 180-minute version for a special broadcast on PBS, this rendition is also included in a three-disc set from Inecom Entertainment Studio entitled America Comes of Age. ~ Dana Rowader, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Jack Schaefer (writer of Shane), and previously filmed theatrically in 1970, the made-for-cable Monte Walsh is the still-timely saga of a dying way of life. Monte Walsh (Tom Selleck) and his friends are cowboys and bronco busters, plying their trade in the Wyoming Territory of 1892. Alas, the advance of civilization has all but rendered Monte and his comrades obsolete -- and with the increasing corporate buy-ups of Wyoming land, these relics of the Old West have practically nowhere else to go. Should Monte continue as before, seeking out the last of the wide open spaces, or should he follow the advice of his sweetheart Martine (Isabella Rosselini) and settle down in a steady job -- say, as a trick rider-roper in the traveling Wild West Show owned by impresario Colonel Wilson (Wallace Shawn)? This elegiac drama debuted January 17, 2003, on the TNT network as part of the cable service's "100 Years of Westerns" celebration. The teleplay is partially credited to one of the scripters of the 1970 film, Lukas Heller, who died in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-cable Western The Outsider would seem to have its roots in the classic John Wayne theatrical feature Angel and the Badman. In the Montana of the late 19th century, wounded outlaw Johnny Gault (Tim Daly) is given refuge by widowed sheep farmer Rebecca Yoder (Naomi Watts). This puts Rebecca on the outs with her own people, a pacifist Quaker sect, and also incurs the wrath of a ruthless cattle baron, who has long coveted the Quakers' land--and who also was responsible for the death of Rebecca's husband. Not surprisingly, Johnny Gault turns out to be the traditional "good bad man", capable of solving everyone's problems--except, perhaps, his own. The Outsider first aired over the Showtime cable network on November 10, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide