Starring: Mario Van Peebles, Stephen Baldwin, Billy Zane, Charles Lane, Big Daddy Kane, Salli Richardson
Director: Mario Van Peebles
Producers: Preston Holmes and Jim Steele
Screenplay: Sy Richardson and Dario Scardapane
Music: Michel Colombier
Released by Gramercy Pictures
The posse of Jessie Lee (Mario Van Peebles) is comprised of a small group of survivors who escape from an ambush set by the sadistic Colonel Graham (Billy Zane). From Cuba of 1896 to the U.S., Lee's posse moves west as he pursues vengeance against the men who murdered his father. With Colonel Graham hot on his heels, Lee arrives in Freemanville (a community of ex-slaves), the culmination of his father's dreams, whose existence is in danger from a group of corrupt whites living in the next town.
In constructing Posse, Van Peebles has put together a traditional western with a twist: excepting Stephen Baldwin's Little J, the members of the group are black. Some interesting race-related points are raised, but Van Peebles disappoints by focusing instead on the standard elements of the genre. By the film's end, this has become little more than a 19th-century shoot-em-up. Posse is violent, but without the grittiness that characterized Clint Eastwood's Academy Award winning Unforgiven.
Technically, this film is a mess. Considering how well-constructed Van Peebles' previous effort, New Jack City, was, that's something of a surprise. Nevertheless, in Posse, the editing is sub-par -- scenes often come to jarring conclusions. The music at times seems better-suited to a contemporary action flick than a western, and the quick changes of camera angles makes Posse feel like something created for MTV.
Despite its numerous problems, Posse remains an entertaining film. Not only does it bring an innovative perspective to the western, it tells a solid story. The subplot involving Graham creates some unnecessary baggage, but the main conflict between Van Peebles and Richard Jordan in Freemanville is well-developed. We are also given a rare glimpse into the relationship between Native Americans and African Americans.
It's worth making a comparison to Glory, which has a similar intention -- redressing the historical inaccuracies of Hollywood. However, where Glory succeeds brilliantly by wedding the dramatic impact of the black man's role in the Civil War with its overall tale, Posse doesn't attain the same emotionally-satisfying level. With a few minor script alterations and some re-casting, this could easily have been an all-white film. Many of the most important and intriguing questions about the real roles of blacks in the Old West are left unexplored. Posse serves merely to whet our appetites.
© 1993 James Berardinelli