''The Jack Bull'' is a 1999 American Western

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by John Badham and written by

Dick Cusack Richard John CusackMartin, Douglas ''The New York Times'', June 04, 2003 (August 29, 1925 – June 2, 2003) was an American actor, filmmaker, and documentarist. Personal life Cusack was born in New York City, the son of Margaret Cusack (née ...

, loosely inspired by

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...

's 1810 novel ''

Michael Kohlhaas ''Michael Kohlhaas'' is a novella by the German author Heinrich von Kleist, based on a 16th-century story of Hans Kohlhase. Kleist published fragments of the work in volume 6 of his literary journal '' Phöbus'' in June 1808. The complete work ...

''. It stars John Cusack,

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he received a Golden Globe Award, ...

, L. Q. Jones, Miranda Otto, and

John C. McGinley John Christopher McGinley (born August 3, 1959) is an American actor. His best known roles include Perry Cox in '' Scrubs'', Bob Slydell in ''Office Space'', Captain Hendrix in '' The Rock'', Sergeant Red O'Neill in Oliver Stone's ''Platoon,'' ...

, and aired on HBO on April 17, 1999. Much of the movie was filmed at the CL Ranch and the Heritage Park Historical Village in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta.

Plot

In 1889 Wyoming Territory, Myrl Redding is a horse trader living with his wife Cora, son Cage, and some ranch hands. When Redding attempts to take his horses to a horse market in

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * Da ...

, he discovers local wealthy landowner, Henry Ballard, has erected a tollbooth on the road to Casper, which goes through Ballard's property. Ballard, who disagrees with Redding regarding making Wyoming a state (which will restrict Ballard's commercial opportunities), charges Redding ten dollars to pass through his land. Unable to pay, Redding leaves two horses as collateral for payment along with a Native American ranch hand, Billy, to ensure the horses are not mistreated. After selling the horses at Casper, Redding returns to Ballard's ranch to discover that the horses are malnourished and beaten, with Billy nowhere in sight. Redding vows that Ballard will pay to restore the horses' health, while Ballard refuses to pay anything. Redding approaches a local lawyer seeking to sue Ballard, however the lawyer is doubtful the local judge, Judge Wilkins, who is friends with Ballard, will do anything. Redding soon learns that Judge Wilkins has indeed thrown out the lawsuit, prompting his wife to attempt to meet the Attorney General, whose wife she is friends with, escorted by ranch hand Woody. During her visit, some of Ballard's men attack Woody and throw him in front of a horse carriage, which swerves to avoid him and ends up hitting and killing Cora. Redding, furious at the law's failure to do anything about the death of his wife and the loss of his horses, rallies a local militia of ranch owners and farmers and attacks Ballard’s home, sending him fleeing. Ballard manages to plead his case to the Governor of Wyoming, who dispatches a sheriff to arrest Redding. Redding manages to ambush the sheriff's men and in the confusion one of Ballard's men is killed. Seeking to ease the escalating violence, the Governor of Wyoming offers Redding amnesty if he surrenders. Redding accepts but later sends a letter promising to support Billy's tribe against the United States, jeopardizing his amnesty agreement. He is subsequently charged and convicted of murder. Ballard, meanwhile, is brought to Court and ordered to restore the horses' health by a sympathetic judge, Joe B. Tolliver, who also orders Ballard imprisoned for two years. Nonetheless, Judge Tolliver is forced to sentence Redding to be executed following his conviction. After saying goodbye to his son, Redding is hung and executed. Wyoming becomes a state, and Cage and Woody take the two healthy horses back to the Redding ranch.

Cast

* John Cusack as Myrl Redding *

as Judge Joe B. Tolliver * L. Q. Jones as Henry Ballard * Miranda Otto as Cora Redding *

as Woody * Rodney A. Grant as Billy Redwood *

Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller (born September 16, 1953) is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He is best known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Wa ...

as Conrad *

Rex Linn Rex Maynard Linn (born November 13, 1956) is an American film and television actor. He is best known domestically for playing the role of Sgt. Frank Tripp in the CBS drama ''CSI: Miami'' and more recently for playing Kevin Wachtell in the televi ...

as Shelby Dykes *

Drake Bell Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and musician. Born in Newport Beach, California, he began his career as an actor in the early 1990s at the age of five with his first televised appearance on ''Hom ...

as Cage Redding *

Ken Pogue Kenneth Pogue (July 26, 1934 – December 15, 2015) was a Canadian actor. Career His first motion picture role in 1973 was in ''The Neptune Factor''. He almost drowned in scuba gear. He worked on stage at the Crest Theatre, Stratford Shakespea ...

as Judge Wilkins * Scott Wilson as The Governor *

as Jury Foreman

Soundtrack

* Music by

Lennie Niehaus Leonard Niehaus (June 1, 1929 – May 28, 2020) was an American alto saxophonist, composer and arranger on the West Coast jazz scene. He played with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and served as one of Kenton's primary staff arrangers. He also played ...

* " Ring Them Bells" –

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jack Bull, The 1999 television films 1999 films 1999 Western (genre) films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films American films about revenge American Western (genre) films Films about capital punishment Films about miscarriage of justice Films based on German novels Films based on novellas Films based on Western (genre) novels Films based on works by Heinrich von Kleist Films directed by John Badham Films scored by Lennie Niehaus Films set in 1889 Films set in 1890 Films set on farms Films set in Wyoming Films shot in Calgary HBO Films films Television films based on books Western (genre) television films