Alex Cox and Rudy Wurlitzer have one of the more perplexing and rather cool works of late 80s subversive film-making with Walker, a film about a real man and his mad overthrow of the government of Nicaragua in the mid 1850s. It was a fiasco, but it almost wasn't at one point. There was a moment where the line was distinctly crossed with the execution of a certain character, and it's also at this point in the film that Cox lets things go even further off the wall from the period setting. For a while it's so not trying to be any kind of absurdist take on things that it seems like a (good) serious take on a man like Walker (Ed Harris) in a strange land that he thinks he can make well under "democratic" terms. As he soon goes against everything stood for, the film too goes into bizarro world, mixing in cars, computers, Time and Newsweek, and even a real army helicopter and soldiers (the copter, I might add, was a real chopper used in the Nicaraguan battles of 1987).

In the sense of marking out ground that is all of a director's own in this form and context, it's not quite Aguirre, but for Alex Cox, a director who's had his ups and downs, it's a significant achievement. It seems like it should be all nonsense, and that the film might be taking itself too seriously. But in reality the nonsense is what the film is sort of about, not really how it comes off. Cox goes between overtly homage-like slow-motion action shots of battle and blood splattering with guns going off like Peckinpah with a heap-load to let go. What is it, anyway, to try and bring democracy to a land like Nicaragua, and under the circumstances (i.e. under Vanderbilt, played by Peter Boyle with his own crazy-big mutton chops) that should be already considered troublesome? Walker wasn't even any kind of politician before this, though as also a doctor and lawyer he tried (unsuccessfully) to bring some battle over Mexico.

Is it a microcosm? Does it say where we're headed, or rather where we are now? Probably to both. It's a trip that shouldn't be taken too lightly, and it definitely isn't for everyone, but what's thrilling about Cox's vision is that he has no fear of what the audience will think anyway. Like Repo Man's mix of teen punk comedy and sci-fi action pic, Cox is mixing and experimenting forms, a Dr. Strangelove take on Manifest Destiny with a style that veers between obscure spaghetti western and featuring one of the great, groovy soundtracks of the 80s from Joe Strummer. It might not be anything that will end up on 'best-of-ever' lists, but as a work unto itself this and Withnail & I are the superb cult films of 1987, with this begging for some re-examination twenty-something years later. At the least, it's one of Ed Harris's unsung masterful and subtle performances.

In the 1850's an American soldier-of-fortune known as William Walker marches his army into Nicaragua to take control of the country for a wealthy and powerful capitalist, Cornelius Vanderbilt. Through time, Walker sets himself up as the ruler of the worn-torn country, but the power gets to his head when he bites off more than he can chew to keep it that way and hold onto those principles he believes in.

Cult director Alex Cox churns out one very peculiar, social minded and disjointed experience from his effort on "Walker (1987)". While, the film does contain bad aspects and goes about things rather forcefully. There's still entertainment within this spirited feature and Ed Harris kept me captivated with a truly intense and radiant performance as the black dressed William Walker. After a somewhat serious opening on the factual story, it eventually succumbs to surreal imagery and anachronistic details to get its loud and intrusive message across. Like many have mentioned in their comments it does have real visionary punch to it that resembles Sam Peckinpah's work. Just look at the brutal action and glamorous slow-mo interwoven into many scenes. Alex Cox's direction is quite staged and can get heavy-handed, but the many stylistic touches and eccentric moods do rub off. I loved the way he decided to shoot the flick. Rudy Wurlitzer's over-dramatic, but stirring screenplay is laced with pot shots and parallels on the political interference of the USA from 1850's to the most recent. There seems to be too much going on in the script and it felt like it was pushed along too quickly, which meant the diverse narration became choppy with some unclear details. It was actually hard during certain moments to take it seriously because of some odd and absurd comedic developments.

Joe Strummer provides the ever-changing carefree mixture in the music score with perfect results in capturing the tenor. The strong supporting cast with the likes of Richard Masur, Xander Berkeley, Rene Auberjonois, Sy Richardson, Marlee Matlin and so on… work very well and fed of Harris' egotistical character marvellously. The way Walkers' progressive power got to his head personally and finally backfires on him (and his followers) with many disillusions having a lasting affect on his judgement is portrayed beautifully and concisely.

It probably thinks it's more grandeur than it actually is, but this is one fascinating foray nonetheless.

William Walker was one of the more interesting characters of the 19th century--though he's pretty much forgotten today. And, with films like "Burn!" and "Walker", he'll probably pretty much remain forgotten! Let me explain. I saw Marlon Brando's film "Burn!" and noticed that almost NONE of the film bore any similarity to the like of the title character, William Walker. It had a very broad similarity and it used his name--but that is all. So, wanting to learn more about the real guy, I did some research. He was a very interesting and screwy guy--an adventurer that lived to start self-serving revolutions in Central America. And, amazingly, with a tiny rag-tag army he became the leader, briefly, of Nicaragua just before the US Civil War. He also was a staunch supporter of returning slavery to these nations which had outlawed slavery in the preceding decades. And, because he was such a fascinating man, I was excited to learn about the film "Walker"--a film that purports to be a true story of the man. Unfortunately, it isn't. Although the film is much closer to the man than in "Burn!", it is completely inaccurate and portrays Walker as a man so bizarre and idiotic you question whether he had the ability to dress himself--let alone lead a successful revolution! Imagine taking a historical biopic, "Blazing Saddles" and a Fellini or Buñuel and combining them! The film is rather pointless and annoying.

Through most of the film, Ed Harris seems to be almost sleepwalking through the title role. I don't necessarily blame him--that is the sort of performance the director wanted. But it just made no sense. And, as the film progressed, it made less and less and less sense. And, at times, the film inserted things SOMEONE must have thought were funny--but weren't. For example, at the one hour mark, two Nicaraguans are shown reading PEOPLE and NEWSWEEK magazines....in 1857! And, in another case, he and walks casually through a botched battle--showing no emotion whatsoever and not fighting as his men are being slaughtered around him. So what does he FINALLY do? He sits down to play the piano as men are dying all around him!!

The problem is that if it was meant as satire, it didn't stray far enough or get weird enough. If it was meant as a biopic, well, it was a total failure--with too many surreal moments and little attention to historical accuracy. The resulting film is simply a stupid mess--and one I really cannot recommend even for bad movie buffs.

By the way, if you care, Ed Harris really is doing sign language in the early part of the film. It's not great but he did a good job here.