One of the oldest, most enduring genres in the venue of modern story telling is the western. Since the 1800’s tales of the American Western frontier have been exceptionally popular. since the inception of both movies and subsequently television as the primary means of entertainment there is hardly a season that goes by were the venerable western does not have some degree of representation. In both mediums there have been many cases of creative minds have attempted to reinvent this genre through the application of various novel twists. As someone who grew up on the golden age westerns like ‘The Lone Ranger’, ‘Gunsmoke’ and Roy Rogers’ I find many of these modern variations interesting although few manage to rise to the bar set by the genre’. The western has been adopted by Italian filmmakers, reworked from Japanese samurai epics and even transformed into sagas that span the vastness of space. One of the most recent representatives of this type of flick to cross my path is a little made for television ‘oater’ called ‘Goodnight for Justice’. While not at the top of the class as far as westerns go this flick is better made than most. The important thing here is in spite of its short comings the filmmaker, cast and crew give every indication that they gave an honest effort to provide the best film possible under what must have been conditions favoring quick and cheap production. It’s quiet easy to sit in the darkness of your living room judging a made for TV movie but in this instance the pervading feeling was that the people involved did not allow the ‘made for television’ label hinder them for putting forth the best effort they could muster. This is a decently constructed movie that I would more entertaining ran the majority of westerns I have encountered lately. The filmmaker set a goal to entertain the audience and proceeded to do an admirable job.

There are many themes that can drive a western but without a doubt one of the most widely employed is revenge. For John Goodnight (Luke Perry) his thoughts are tightly focused on as day that destroyed his life. As a boy a marauding gang of desperados swooped in and slaughter the peaceful community his family called home. The young Goodnight (Sam Duke) is taken in by the only other survivor, Rebecca, the wife of the Circuit Judge Aldous Shaw. She becomes his foster mother and helps to instill in the young man a strong sense of justice and the will to see it administered. Eventually the boy grows to full manhood and is commissioned as the circuit judge of the territory. His reputation was well known, built on his ability to see justice done in a fair fashion beyond external influence but this is severely put to the test upon the return of the criminal that butchered his family to the territory. In a story such as this the choice the hero is forced to make is between keeping to his moral compass with justice and stratifying his human need for revenge against the cowardly murderers. Faith seems to have delivered to him.

When we first see John as a boy he is with his family headed back east after a failed attempt at homesteading. As an adult he has gained a reputation as a lawyer who never loss a case. He also has a perchance for cutting loose on his time off which frequently left him with a hangover and a bill for damages. When he accepts the appointment his foster mother gives him two things from her late husband to help guide John; his gavel and his gun. Through a series of bizarre typically mundane cases John garners a reputation of being fair and honest with a perchance for unusual sentencing. He also garnered more than his share of distain among the people of the Wyoming territory. For example when a young black boy appeared in his court accusing a restaurant owner of lynching his father the judge causes a stir by sharing a drink of water out of the same glass with the lad. Although he was certain the accused was guilty and part of the KKK there was no legal evidence Goodnight was forced to let the man go. Several cases like this are shown establishing the moral character and intrinsically incorruptible nature of Judge Goodnight. This is vital for the second and third acts of the story to work.

The movie was directed by Perry’s fellow 90210 alumni Jason Priestley. Priestley has been working on his directorial style for awhile now and I have caught several of his works. In this instance he shows remarkable restraint in getting into the main elements of the story. After carefully establishing the steadfast nature of the protagonist he moves on to providing a love interest in the beautiful form of the independent young widow, Kate Ramsey (Lara Gilchrist). There is an immediate attraction between the pair that leads to a bit of a twist ending. The moral dilemma that Goodnight is placed is not forced or contrives which is typical for this type of story. There is an encounter with the local rich and powerful business man who owns just about everything and everyone in town. He also enjoys the local Native American population but it was already demonstrated that Goodnight is about a century in advance of this post Civil War era when it comes to civil liberties. Priestley does an excellent job of setting up the action using little plot point subtly placed in the story to resolve larger issues presented in the story. Over all the film is much better than most would expect; a testament to the quality that a Hallmark presentation promises. It is not suitable for the youngest members of the family thanks to some lusty scenes between Perry and Gilchrist but other than that this is an enjoyable twist on the standard western.