Unlike most actors who gained notoriety through “Star Trek,” Patrick Stewart — or “P-Stew” — has transcended and gained numerous interesting roles beyond Captain Jean-Luc Picard on “The Next Generation.”
The latest example of Stewart’s versatility is “King of Texas,” recently released on VHS and DVD. The film is a reinterpretation of the William Shakespeare play “King Lear,” but the twist is that it is set in old western times, circa late 1800s. Stewart plays the title role of John Lear, a land magnate who bequeaths his empire to two of his daughters while ignoring the one who truly loves him. This story is perpetually familiar.
Wisely, the movie does not co-opt Shakespeare’s dialogue, á la recent films “O” and “10 Things I Hate About You.” Adapting Shakespeare’s dialogue onto such an expansive medium such as film is a difficult task to accomplish, and with a running time of 95 minutes, “King of Texas” works better by avoiding this effort.
What’s striking about “King of Texas” is its feature-film quality and cast of actors. The movie originally aired on Showtime, which usually connotes slipshod or rushed production values. The film was shot in Mexico, which lends it to vividly shot, authentic locations. And Stewart, a Royal Shakespeare Company-trained actor, also served as executive producer with wife Wendy Neuss-Stewart, so he clearly had a personal stake in the production.
While there are no magazine cover regulars here, most of the main roles in the film are filled with solid actors who probably should have more face recognition. Colm Meaney (another “Star Trek” veteran, from both the “Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” series), delivers a solid performance in the role of Mr. Tumlinson, who provides the moral conscience for the characters in the film. David Alan Grier, known usually for his comedic roles, gets to show off his dramatic chops, playing the character Rip. Finally, Roy Scheider, another veteran actor whose career has spanned decade upon decade, plays Lear’s friend Henry Westover. A note about the DVD release of the film: It’s presented in wide-screen, but the back of the box ambiguously says it’s “matted,” which means it’s likely the film wasn’t originally shot in wide-screen, but rather, “pan and scan,” which is designed to fill most television screens.