Directed by: Carl Bartholomew
Starring: Carl Bartholomew, Amy Gruebel, Keith Andrews, Mike Wiles, Noel Fairbrothers, and Nick Zickefoose
Beginning in
1953, Coleman “Cole” Justice (Bartholomew) is out on a date with his best girl,
Betsy, taking in a viewing of Shane.
After the movie, they’re walking home and Betsy realizes she dropped her
locket. Cole runs back to the theater to pick it up, and it’s then when a gang
of ne’er-do-well punks assault Betsy and rape her. (Now might be the
appropriate time to mention that the actress playing Betsy is named Amy Raper.
Could this possibly be a coincidence?). When Cole finds out what happens, he is
destroyed and vows revenge.
Cut to 1989
in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cole Justice is now Professor
Justice, teaching a class in Western Cinema to his enthusiastic students. It
seems like after the night he viewed Shane
with Betsy, something stuck in his head about that and he can’t move beyond it.
He’s obsessed with Westerns, becoming an encyclopedia of facts and quotes about
them, and even his home is decorated in a Western motif. Professor Justice, who
is a dead ringer for Inside the Actor’s Studio’s James Lipton, is irresistible
to the ladies. When one of his students, Michelle Fresnay (Amy Gruebel) – who
has a crush, naturally, on him – is found dead after a bad dose of crack (yes,
it was going around even in the suburbs of Oklahoma at the time), something
reignites in Cole Justice. Dressed in full cowboy regalia, he hits the streets
to find out who is responsible, and deal with it – in true Western style.
Because he’s
righting wrongs all over town, the media dubs him “The Cowboy Killer”. At the
top of the baddie food chain are Jack Keeter (Willard Clark), a man who looks
exactly like Barney Miller’s Hal Linden, and Wes Santee (Mike Wiles). (Not only
is there a Western from 1973 with Glenn Ford named Santee, it’s also Dolph
Lundgren’s name in Army of One). As if Cole Justice didn’t have his hands full
enough, he still finds time for love, deal with family issues, and he even gets involved with the forced retirement
of Security Guard and buddy Pop (Nick Zickefoose) by the evil Dean of the
college, Lindsay (Noel Fairbrothers). Will Cole live up to his name and truly
get JUSTICE?
Cole Justice
was a pleasant surprise. You can easily tell it was a passion project for
director/co-writer/co-editor/star Carl Bartholomew, and the heart he and the
rest of the cast and crew bring to the movie is apparent and infectious.
Fighting mightily against the tide of its rock-bottom budget and novice actors
and crew, Bartholomew and his posse managed to rustle up a winner.
One of the
main reasons for this is that Cole Justice is a likable character. So many
movies, both low and high budget, don’t have likable characters. Cole Justice –
the movie – has multiple people the audience really warms to. Not just Cole, in
fact, but also Pop and Cole’s students such as Chris Lomac (Keith Andrews).
Bartholomew has a great broadcaster’s voice and I’d like to hope he did radio
or voice-over work in Oklahoma during his life (he sadly passed away in 2009).
Lomac and his classmates hang out at a restaurant with a giant animatronic
chicken. Like all college students.
There is not
just footage, but repeated footage of
the aforementioned Shane, as well as Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
Justice goes to a place called “The Cinema” to watch them. While it predated
all the revival theaters that are currently hot today, it doesn’t get many
points for originality when it comes to the name.
Of course,
there are plenty of Middle-Aged Punks (MAP’s) in the movie, and why not? Rae
Don video specialized in them. Many of their releases, such as Provoked (1989),
Rescue Force (1990), and Punk Vacation (1990)
feature them. Could this also be a coincidence? But, in all seriousness,
perhaps the reason more people haven’t seen Cole Justice is because Rae Don
didn’t have a huge reach back during the video store era.
We should
also mention that Cole Justice also has a lovable dog named Frisco, and we’re
treated to this credit at the end of the movie – “Frisco the Dog – Frisco”. So
now we know that Cole’s dog has approximately the same acting range as Mike “Cobra” Cole.
Not to be
confused with Mike Justus, COLE JUSTICE was released in the golden video store
year of 1989, and is an interesting and worthwhile find, if you can indeed find
it.
Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty
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