I had no idea what I was getting into when I sat down to watch director Jan Kounen’s western epic, “Renegade.” I knew little about it, other than it was a cowboy flick directed by a French director. I also happened to know that it starred Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen, and Juliette Lewis (and that last bit of casting almost made me not want to see it…) This is like no western I’ve ever seen. I’m hard-pressed to tell you what it’s about, because just by watching it, it’s hard to make pick out the plot from the highly visual schizophrenic experience that “Renegade” is. But let me try. I know it involves a Cajun man by the name of Mike Blueberry (Cassel), who as a young man is nearly killed. He is raised by Native Americans and goes through all the spiritual falderal that goes with it. When he returns to the world of the white man, he becomes a marshal in a small town. Soon after, he finds he has to face the demons of his past, which includes a gunman (Madsen). Sounds pretty straight forward doesn’t it? Well, my friend it is far from it. After the 2 hours it took me to watch “Renegade”, I found myself wondering what plaent the director was from, or at the very least, what drugs he was using while making this film.

Very little of the film takes place in what we would call the real world, instead opting to deliver a peyote induced series of visions and revelations. Much of the time, we see little more than kaleidoscope images meant to be part of a spiritual journey that we are meant to take with the film’s protagonist.

I’ll be the first to tell you I like it when movies shock and surprise me, but only when the surprises are good ones. These visuals are kinds of cool and creepy, but they take up way too much screen time. It makes the film very hard to follow (and I’m a pretty smart guy, I hate to think what the average DVD viewer would think…), and ends up making the film somewhat of a bore.

The actors all do fine jobs with their roles, especially Cassel. Considering he’s a French actor taking on the part of an American cowboy, he is excellent. Even Madsen, who is a favorite of mine, chews up the scenery as the supernatural gunman. Of course, there’s Juliette Lewis. I used to consider her the greatest non-acting actresses in the business (a title now held by Amanda Peet), whose presence usually meant the director just couldn’t find anybody else. I still remember seeing her topless in “Strange Days”, and that alone was an image that made me want to gouge out my eyes. Here you see a lot more of her, and let me tell you, the eye-gouging wouldn’t be enough. A total memory wipe is in order…

There are no extra features on this new DVD release, which is probably for the better. There is little I wanted to learn about the making of the film other than what the heck it was about (and just exactly what was in those drugs…).

Directed by: Jan Kounen
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen, Juliette Lewis, Goeffrey Lewis, Colm Meaney, Eddie Izzard, Ernest Borgnine, Tcheky Karyo
Extras: None
Specifications: Widescreen (2.35:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 11/2/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Violence, Sexuality, Nudity and Drug Content)
Website

We'll give Renegade a D.