James Garner (to me) is the king of flippancy. He always has a cute answer or some nonchalant way of handling things. <br /><br />I saw this after Dead Man's Walk and before Lonesome Dove. I had not read the books, so I feel my take on the acting is not jaded by expectations. <br /><br />On first glance I felt the part was weak. Then, after seeing Lonesome Dove and Return to Lonesome Dove, I realized that Garner did right by the part of Woodruff Call. I have never seen him so serious or non-contrived. Even his voice had that slight whine that Tommy Lee Jones had. John Voight had it to an extreme.<br /><br />On second watching I could see the loose ends that were tied, so I was pretty happy overall. I am not sure why such an inaccuracy as Judge Bean dying "not according to history" was allowed.<br /><br />For the record, this movie is second to Dead Man's Walk and a tad above Lonesome Dove. I hate to stomp on those that think LD was the greatest mini-series ever made. I did enjoy it, but had to have some extra coffee to stay awake. That was not the case with Laredo or Dead Man's Walk.