Carl Bartholomew obviously had a dream to star in his own movie, and as it was pointed out in "Fitzcarraldo", "A man without dreams is nothing". "Cole Justice" is one man's dream brought to reality, and it is an entertaining journey into the realm of "spaghetti westerns" transposed into modern day small town Oaklahoma. It should be mentioned that the blending of genre's, western and vigilante justice is totally acceptable. The film is not dull, because it is a fresh idea that maintains interest. Sure it's low budget gets in the way, and the actors are amateurish, but Bartholomew's passion shows in every scene, and for that reason alone I liked it very much. - MERK
6 Reviews
Cole Justice was a pleasant surprise.
tarbosh2200019 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
High Plains Loser
kane-328 June 2002
What do you do when it's the 1950's and a group of thugs rapes your girl as you go back into the empty movie theater to retrieve her necklace? Well, if you're Coleman Justice (Cole to his friends), you repress your emotions and hide behind your favorite western movies. In fact, you grow up to teach a class on the subject(?!). And whatever happened to that police officer that just watched the rape and then killed the thugs in a vendetta fashion? He's the security guard at the very college you work at! You become his best and only friend, even though the teenagers seem enthralled by every word from the geezer's mouth. I'd give this one credit for breaking the cliche of the beer guzzling, dope smoking college student, but these kids are so far from being realistic that they may have well been muppets. I can't believe the makers of this film were allowed to use footage from some of the most classic westerns of all time! Poor Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson. They each appear on screen enough times to warrant a paycheck! The world, especially in these trying times, sure could use a good hero. Too bad this "Killer Cowboy" is a worse idea for a vigilante then Estelle Getty in "Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot!" What are the police up to in this town anyway?! They're worse then Cole's students, who don't put the pieces together until 2/3 of the way in. Some very silly dialogue and horrible acting will keep bad movie lovers happy, but only watch this one if you like to torture yourself. Stick 'em up!
Rape and revenge thriller with cowboy vigilante.
HumanoidOfFlesh25 July 2010
While still in high school in 1953,Coleman Justice's girlfriend is gang raped and killed by a group of men after they'd gone out on a date to see an old western movie "Shane" at a theater.Shortly after her death the group of men are blown up by a car bomb and most believe Coleman is responsible.Charges are never brought against him and 35 years later Coleman is a university professor who teaches a class about western films since he has idolized the gunfighters of cinema since he was very young.He is in a bar when a group of men begin to gang rape a waitress.He goes to his car,puts on his cowboy outfit,arms himself with a bowie knife and Colt revolver and then proceeds to stab and shoot most of the woman's attackers.He then hunts down their leader,who got away as well as a drug dealer as the search for the "cowboy killer" makes newspaper headlines and his students begin to suspect he's the vigilante.Carl Bartholomew executive-produced,directed,co-scripted and starred in a 1988 vigilante movie called "Cole Justice" is the film whose popularity in the home video market got him an improbable gig as the grand marshal of a holiday parade in Florala,Alabama.Very enjoyable and entertaining vigilante flick with plenty of violence and some tasteful nods to western genre.8 out of 10.
Killer Cowboy Inspires.
the_answer3322 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I don't know why this movie has received such a bad rap. Carl Bartholomew is, without a doubt, one of the best director/screenwriter/producer triple-threats in Tulsa. Can anyone else name another? In addition, the dialogue comes alive off the screen: when his favorite student dies of bad crack, you can feel Coleman Justice's pain, as well as everyone else in the classroom. The action is top notch; the trite, over-zealous "action" scenes that pass off as 'good' in modern Hollywood pale in comparison to seeing Cole "Killer Cowboy" Justice in action. Rent this movie. You'll be glad you did.
A rip-roaring actioneer, a subtle commentary on the the thin line of insanity which every citizen in society stradles, and a moral compass of a movie with a heart of gold.
A rip-roaring actioneer, a subtle commentary on the the thin line of insanity which every citizen in society stradles, and a moral compass of a movie with a heart of gold.
A tribute to Westerns
lor_6 May 2023
My review was written in January 1990 after watching the movie on Raedon video cassette.
The direct-to-video release of "Cole Justice" is a deeply felt homage to classic Westerns, styled as a modern revenge picture.
Filmmaker Carl Bartholomew also stars as Coleman Justice, an Oklahoma schoolteacher who trains his pupils in quoting dialog and absorbing the messages in Western films ranging from "The Ox-Bow Incident" right through to "Silverado". His favorites are "Shane" and "Once Upon a Time in the West", with film clips from both adding much to the narrative.
Some 35 years ago, Cole's girlfriend was raped and murdered on the way home fro seeing "Shane" at the local bijou. When Bartholomew sees some thugs terrorizing a bar waitress, the long-ago incident comes back to him and he becomes an avenger (dubbed "Killer Cowboy" by the local press).
Dressing in Western gear, including the long coats popularized by Sergio Leone, he goes after crack dealers and other heavies until his identity is discovered by his students.
Barholomew's pleasant screen persona and obvious love for the subject make "Cole Justice" watchable, but he stumbles by having too much sentimentality in the final reels.
The direct-to-video release of "Cole Justice" is a deeply felt homage to classic Westerns, styled as a modern revenge picture.
Filmmaker Carl Bartholomew also stars as Coleman Justice, an Oklahoma schoolteacher who trains his pupils in quoting dialog and absorbing the messages in Western films ranging from "The Ox-Bow Incident" right through to "Silverado". His favorites are "Shane" and "Once Upon a Time in the West", with film clips from both adding much to the narrative.
Some 35 years ago, Cole's girlfriend was raped and murdered on the way home fro seeing "Shane" at the local bijou. When Bartholomew sees some thugs terrorizing a bar waitress, the long-ago incident comes back to him and he becomes an avenger (dubbed "Killer Cowboy" by the local press).
Dressing in Western gear, including the long coats popularized by Sergio Leone, he goes after crack dealers and other heavies until his identity is discovered by his students.
Barholomew's pleasant screen persona and obvious love for the subject make "Cole Justice" watchable, but he stumbles by having too much sentimentality in the final reels.
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