`Dead Man's Walk' Moves Along Slowly

----------------------------------------------------------------- "Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk," 9 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Monday, KOMO-TV. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ABC is calling this lively, two-part, five-hour Western, "Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk," possibly to differentiate it from "Dead Man Walking," which is another kettle of fish entirely, and in the hopes of reminding you there's a connection between "Dead Man's Walk" and McMurtry's earlier novel, "Lonesome Dove," also a miniseries.

The central "Lonesome Dove" characters, Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, are at the center of "Dead Man's Walk," only this time they're barely out of their teens. (But it's been so long since I saw "Lonesome Dove" that about the only thing I remember is Angelica Huston.) So it's perfectly legit to treat "Dead Man's Walk" as a self-contained, rip-roaring, old-fashioned, pioneers-against-the Indians action movie - only McMurtry has added Mexicans to the mix so "Dead Man's Walk" becomes a conflict between three elements - the Texans, the Mexicans and the Indians (Comanches and Apaches). Make that four elements: The weather and terrain of the Southwest also loom large in the adventures and misfortunes of McCrae and Call as they set out, in the 1840s, on an ill-fated mission to wrest Santa Fe from the Mexicans.

McCrae and Call behave like a pair of slap-happy teenager buddies in the first part of the story. Some of the exchanges and scenes between them, as played by David Arquette (McCrae) and English actor Jonny Lee Miller (Call), are truly funny and believable. Call is the practical one who questions just about everything. McCrae is the enthusiast, who believes marching off to Santa Fe is a good idea - but it takes some convincing to get Call to go along. McCrae is a little less enthusiastic after he meets flirty Clara Forsythe (Jennifer Garner), the storekeeper's daughter who takes great delight in teasing poor McCrae.

But McMurtry, who adapted his novel (with Diana Ossana) for TV, always stocks his books with a rich assortment of characters and this one is no exception. In charge of the Santa Fe expedition is Caleb Cobb, a crafty old pirate played to quirky perfection by F. Murray Abraham. Also on hand are two scouts, Bigfoot Wallace, played by Keith Carradine, and Shadrach, a "mountain man" played by Harry Dean Stanton. Both he and Carradine add invaluable depth of characterization to the mix.

Patricia Childress is good in the impossible role of Mattie, the good-hearted prostitute who goes along to Santa Fe for the adventure - and because she thinks it's in the same general direction as California, where she really wants to go. Eric Schweig is a fearsome Comanche, Buffalo Hump, and other important contributions are made by Brian Dennehy, Edward James Olmos, Ray McKinnon, Tim Blake Nelson, Alastair Duncan, Jared Rushton and Kieran Mulroney. Some of their roles aren't large but they're rich with possibilities which the actors explore, with the help of director Yves Simoneau.

"Dead Man's Walk" is violent, anything but politically correct in its treatment of any group in the film, and McMurtry is also guilty of cramming everything possible into his story - scalpings, shootings, wild animals, horrific weather, death by firing squad, prairie fire, torture, beatings, lepers. Lepers? You may well wonder how lepers fit into this story of old Southwest but McMurtry obviously feels not everything has to make sense. Certainly the bizarre ending doesn't.

But the truth is that by the time that leper colony business rolls around you are more than ready for "Dead Man's Walk" to end. The first two hours are lively and entertaining, but because so much of the final three hours focuses on the group's long trek as prisoners, it's not only downbeat but eventually becomes tedious.

McMurtry tries to hold our interest by throwing everything possible into this stew but there are many times in Part II when this movie seems to go as slowly as the march we're watching on the screen.

`SIGNS & WONDERS': IT'S TOO INVOLVING ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Signs & Wonders," PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre," 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, KCTS-TV. -----------------------------------------------------------------

"Masterpiece Theatre" goes contemporary for this new drama, written by Michael Eaton and directed by Maurice Phillips, set in England and Los Angeles.

It's all about faith, as illustrated by an old-fashioned English vicar, played by David Warner; searching for faith in cults like the Rev. Moon's, as illustrated by the vicar's rebellious daughter, Claire, well-played by Jodhi May; by political faith, as illustrated by the actions of the vicar's son, Stephen, played by Michael Maloney; and the old-fashioned faith that somehow everything will turn out all right, as exemplified by the vicar's wife, Elisabeth, played by Prunella Scales. By the film's end, they've all questioned their faiths and they're all sadder but wiser.

The portion of the drama that deals with Claire's seduction into a cult, and her mother's decision to go to California to try to reclaim her, with the help of an "exit counselor" played by James Earl Jones, is excellent. A little less interesting is the vicar's loss of faith, but worth including if only for Warner's fine performance. But the long segments about Claire's brothers angst is not only often unclear but keeps slowing the story down.

If "Signs & Wonders" would have limited itself to Claire, her torments, confusions and rescue, it would have made an exciting, fast paced two-hour film. As it is, it's too diverse and unfocused to be completely satisfying.