Coyote Waits (2003 TV Movie) User Reviews

Mystery without the glitz

[youredg · 8/10 · 28 March 2004]

Was pleasantly surprised with this film as a friend who contributes to public television recommended it to me. Since the movie started at 2 a.m. my hopes initially was that the film would be a dud and I could go to bed. Instead this film has me wanting to purchase it to view again and possibly add the initial film Skinwalkers along with the purchase. The Tony Hillerman novels will also be purchased for a good read as well.

For me, fortunately the pace and structure of the movie was outstanding in this CSI laden era of mystery. The back and forth development of the case was to me intriguing and provided enough information to get you involved but not to much information to stop your personal hunt to figure out who committed the crimes.

There was enough personal concern for Adam Beach's character Jim Chee to strive for the resolution of this mystery. From time to time it is nice to see a Movie/TV cop solve a crime because it is the right thing to do without car chases or autopsy scenes shocking your senses.

Navajo tribe police unravel a murder mystery on the 'res'.

[bobvonb · 8/10 · 20 November 2003]

As a longtime Tony Hillerman fan I looked forward to a better treatment of his Jim Chee novels than previous efforts. Visually Coyote Waits was very attractive but unfortunately was unable to impart the feel of the long lonely roads and the dry heat of the four corners region. The film was somewhat better at giving us a glimpse of Navajo culture, but unfortunately it was only a glimpse. In particular I missed the periods of silence and waiting we learned about in the books. Sure that's dead time in a visual medium, but that is important to the Navajo culture and the novels. The plot was very close to the novel, and the few concessions that were made were quite understandable. I hope we see more of Capt. Largo, Lt. Leaphorn and more insight into Officer Chee in future Hillerman treatments. All in all, worth a watch and certainly better than the formula mysteries we see regularly on broadcast TV.

Kinda slow at first......

[surfsister · 7/10 · 18 November 2003]

This was my first Hillerman experience. Maybe the slowness of the beginning is necessary, but I was wanting to check out. It got better towards the end with several interesting twists that I was glad I stayed for. I enjoyed seeing the area of the reservation (or 'rez' as they say in the movie) and hearing a bit of American Indian mythology and stories. No special effects, just good acting and a good story.

Good Native style mystery/suspense film.

[LaxFan94 · 7/10 · 4 February 2010]

I liked this film since it had a nice blend of Navajo culture with mystery and suspense. Adam Beach, Wes Studi and Jimmy Herman did well in this as they do in all their films. Three other films where they also star in, "A Thief of Time", "Skinwalkers" and "Coyote Summer" all have interesting themes of how Native cultures blend in with mystery/suspense although one of them may not directly deal with cultural issues in itself. If I am not mistaken, at least 3 of the 4 films have to do with murder cases where Native cultures are widely portrayed in order to help find the people responsible for the murders. Another reason why I liked this one is because Alex Rice is in it. I'm a big fan of hers and I liked the role she played as lawyer Janet Pete.

ANYWAYS.... this film along with the other 3 mentioned all go hand in hand. This is why I gave it a 7 out of 10.

Suspenseful and Engrossing...

[sheloveshercats · 9/10 · 19 November 2003]

While watching this movie, you follow two Navajo police officers as they uncover the truth behind a series of murders.

This enjoyable, well acted, film keeps you guessing until the end.

Due to the scenery, it is visually entertaining as it maintains a good story line. At the same time, the characters are full of life and emotion, but not so much as to overwhelm the mystery lurking beneath the story line.

Adam Beech and Wes Studi both give good, believable performances.

As this is an intelligent persons movie, I would recommend this film to people who do not need graphic violence or bad language to enjoy a film.

An American Mystery! Special lights up the little screen.

[Director Jim · 7/10 · 17 November 2003]

The second American Mystery! Special from a Tony Hillerman book, that basically picks up where the first one ended. Praise should be given to the producers of Mystery!, the ones who listened to the American audience when it begged for stories from American writers that were set in America.

Both Adam Beech and Wes Studi reprise their roles as lawmen, seeking truth this time about an unlikely murderer and the crime he supposedly committed. The struggle between mythology and law continues in this movie as Adam Beech's character, Jim Chee, has to deal with doubt and remorse, and Joe Leaphorn, played again by Wes Studi, reluctantly seeks positive proof about the reservation murder.

Robert Redford also lends his name again as Executive Producer, thus ensuring the unchanged production value. There is no doubt that the next movie, due to air in Spring of 2004, will exceed its predecessors in taut, mysterious entertainment.

HOME!!!!!!!!

[mielluse · 8 July 2004]

OMG!!!! It was so cool to see home on the small screen, I just moved out east and was missing the Frontier, and there it was on PBS. You could see UNM in the background. That's where I used to eat, and I used to waltz around that campus!!!! I love any movie that films in my home state; there aren't any real mountains out here. Just grass. Having read the book and seeing it translated onto film is always hard because most of the flow and context is lost. Hillerman has developed these characters over a series of novels, and his fans are familiar with them and need no guidelines. For those that haven't read the book, they probably got lost in the story line. (I don't buy Adam Beach as a Navajo, he's too pretty. The acting itself is fine, though.)

"Perhaps we don't solve anything."

[Bernie4444 · 9/10 · 26 October 2023]

"We just rearrange the mystery"

For those who have read the book, you will notice many instances where the story is altered, and people moved around. The most striking is that Emma is still alive, and the cat (Slim) is back. They had to add the character of Slick Naki to cut out about an hour of skinwalker investigation. I can say no more without giving away the mystery.

Jim Chee sits drinking coffee while partner Tribal Policeman Delbert Nez meets his demise. Chee catches the obvious perpetrator. A Navaho shaman, with a bottle in one hand and THE gun in his belt. Case closed.

Because of his guilt at not backing up his partner and at the insistence of Chee's on-again and off-again relationship with the defending attorney, Janet Pete, Chee must find out for himself what happened and if he may have made a mistake.

Because of a relationship through his wife, Emma, with Ashie Pinto's (the defendant) clan, and her insistence that Ashie is being railroaded, Joe Leaphorn must also investigate from a different angle. Emma helps in the investigation and lends support to Joe.

Both men are pushed into what looks like an endless number of overlapping mysteries of which the murder of Delbert Nez is just one. They - and we - must deal with the history of the CIA and that of witches.

Some grating flaws, but the mystery itself works reasonably well. Be sure to read the Hillerman books

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 29 September 2008]

Years ago Robert Redford bought the screen rights to a bunch of Tony Hillerman mysteries. He's been the force behind one movie (The Dark Wind, 1991, with Lou Diamond Phillips and Fred Ward as Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn) and three television movies, all with Adam Beach as Chee and Wes Studi as Leaphorn (Skinwalkers, 2002; Coyote Waits, 2003; and A Thief of Time, 2004). Redford has yet to get it right.

Coyote Waits is the best of the TV movies, but it suffers from the same conscientious flaws that mar the other three productions. It's best to remind ourselves just why Hillerman's mysteries are so good: They are complex yet believable; are set in what, for most Americans, is an exotic locale within a culture which is not well known; and the mysteries are superbly constructed and well written. Hillerman educates us along the way -- if we want to be educated -- about Navajo people, customs, history and the Navajo belief system. He makes clear the tension between modern needs and traditional values, but he does it matter-of- factly, with no preaching, and always within the context of the mystery he's telling.

Redford and his team almost perversely get it backward. More than any of the other flaws, it's the reverential treatment given to the Navajo and their land that sinks these movies into culturally-approved lessons. Instead of trusting the audience to take up what they will and learn from it or not, as Hillerman does, we have sweeping camera vistas of the land at dramatic moments; a generically sensitive "ethnic" score that tries to tell us what we should be appreciating in the Navajo belief system; and a need to cram in so many plot points from the books with messages about Navajo issues that the mysteries themselves become disorganized.

Coyote Waits eventually settles down to a better than average telling of Hillerman's story, which involves a ruthless search for old bones. A great deal of money and an enhanced reputation are the prizes. There's murder and avarice, rattlesnakes and Bolivian coins and the continuing conflict within Chee over his job as a cop and his gifts as a healer. Chee and the older Leaphorn wind up working together but on parallel aspects of the case. It makes for a neat way to keep the two different men prominent in the solution. The director and writer have managed with partial success to keep the focus on the story. Coyote Waits is far more coherent and with less of the reverential stuff that so marred, in my opinion, Skinwalkers and The Thief of Time.

You might want to give The Dark Wind a try. Phillips makes an interesting, if young, Chee. The movie, however, also keeps getting sidetracked into overly respectful appreciation of the Navajo way. The Navajo deserve better...which they get in the Hillerman books.

I give this movie a better-than-average rating because, even with the movie's flaws, the team tried to do a better job. When they concentrated on the mystery, the movie works reasonably well.

OK movie, could be better

[toddbradley · 24 November 2003]

My wife and I TiVo'd this and watched it yesterday. I'd been looking forward to seeing it since I first saw it advertised a month ago. I had no idea there was another made-for-TV movie using the same actors, and thought this was the first. I'm glad to hear it won't be the last.

Not having read the book, I thought this was a decent film, though it could have been better. While it's nice they cast real natives in the major roles, I thought it was pretty strange that not a single person looked Navajo. Given the huge number of people in this country with Navajo ancestry, I'm surprised Redford couldn't find one or two he thought could act well enough to carry a made-for-TV movie. And half the scenes didn't look to me like they were shot anywhere near the Navajo Nation, though I admit it's a big place that no one could know all of. Finally, too many of the characters came across as stereotypes. I've only read one Hillerman novel, so I don't know if that's due to the original novel or the screenplay or the directing.

All that said, it was a decent couple hours of entertainment, and I'll watch upcoming episodes, though I'm definitely not rushing out to buy the DVD.

Not as fulfilling as it should have been

[me43 · 17 November 2003]

Based on a Tony Hillerman novel, "Coyote Waits" brings back characters familiar to viewers of "Skinwalkers" and 1991's "Dark Wind", which starred Fred Ward and Lou Diamond Phillips. If you have not seen the previous films, you can still enjoy "Coyote Waits" for its own sake.

Adam Beach reprises his "Skinwalkers" role as "Jim Chee", alongside other "Skinwalkers" veterans, Sheila Tousey, and Wes Studi. None of the three are actually Navajo, though they are Native American. Personally I think casting should be based on the best actor for the part, and would have liked to see Phillips reprise his role. Beach is not a Navajo either and is still learning his craft; Phillips is a seasoned veteran. (Before folks get upset let me say this, tribal background should be taken in account when casting Native American roles. It is insulting to insist the tribes are interchangeable. Recall how silly it was for a Swedish accented actor to play a Frenchman in "Good Will Hunting"? It is the same point here.)

Presented in letterbox format, the scenery is at once mystical, isolating and all-encompassing. The production values lift it above "made for tv" status. The language, mild by todays standards, does use the popular term for excrement several times, but not gratuitously. The scenery is beautiful. The picture-postcard-blue of one scene's sky is so beautiful it brings a tear to the eye.

The plot is not as meaty as it could have been and some roles could have been eliminated without too much loss to the whole.

The intentions are good but there comes a time when intentions should be removed from the equation. "Coyote Waits" is not as fulfilling as it could have been, regardless of its intentions.