Wistful western

"The Virginian" (***; 7, 9 and 11 p.m. Sunday, TNT) is faithful not only to the plot of Owen Wister's classic 1902 western novel but also to the slower pace of its time and setting, 1880s Wyoming. The patience this requires will be rewarded.

Cliches of cowboy fiction -- notably, the peaceable man who nonetheless does what a man's gotta do with a gun -- are grounded afresh in harsh everyday reality. As the title character, a ranch hand so laconic that no one knows his real name, director/star Bill Pullman is as wary as a deer. Whether he's riding the open range or playing poker in the bunkhouse, he proceeds from the hard-earned knowledge that little missteps and misunderstandings are the root of most tragedies.

There are a couple of shootouts, but they're more frantic than fancy, and they're over quickly. This isn't really an "action" western. The primary story deals with the Virginian's decision to seek more responsibility on the ranch to prove himself worthy of Molly Stark (Diane Lane), a schoolteacher recently relocated from Vermont. Theirs is a tender and intelligent adult love story, and the questions it raises about personal integrity, responsibility and commitment are as valid today as they were when Wister first considered them.

-- Noel Holston