September 22, 1990 -- This week Laramie saw the arrival of a latter day Western genre film, ``Quigley Down Under,'' a western. There are no real surprises, but it is refreshing to see the subject handled in a competent, straightforward manner, with high production values.

Quigley is the story of an Wyoming cowboy (played by Tom Selleck) who comes to Australia to work for a powerful rancher played by Alan Rickman. He also meets up with ``Crazy Cora'' played by the lovely Laura San Giacomo.

When Selleck finds out Rickman wants him to use his high-powered rifle to shoot aborigines instead of dingos, Selleck throws Rickman through a set of French doors and a virtual state of war exists between the two of them.

Rickman orders Selleck and Giacomo left for dead in the Outback, and then sends killers after them when they manage to survive. When the two witness the killing of aborigines by cowboys driving them over a cliff they become the allies of the aborigines against the rancher.

There are a number of twists in the plot, but the story is really quite simple. The story twists and turns like a river toward its inevitable conclusion, the big gunfight between Selleck and Rickman.

Sure, the movie is full of cliches and the musical score is overdone, but the photography by David Eggby is superb and the location scenery in the northern territory of Australia is spectacular.

The story moves along well enough and the main characters do a good acting job, especially Selleck and Giacomo. This is an old-fashioned feel good western where the bad guys almost always miss and the good guys might get hit with a bullet, but they don't bleed much.

Dirctor Simon Wincer has created a sweeping, big scale western, something like he did in the tv ministries ``Lonesome Dove.''

On a scale of one to 10, this film rates a seven.

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