why didn't they change the script when they cast McQueen?

Hey folks,

Unlike most, I thought this was barely an OK film. The story was barely OK, McQueen was barely OK, and it did seem to skip parts with no explanation as to how the story went from point A to point B.

As noted by mrohlee, however, the repeated reference to McQueen as being a young kid as well as being half Indian really just made this film even worse. The whole problem with his supposedly being a young kid could have been avoided by changing the script to eliminate that concept. The film did not follow "the book" in any meaningful way, so there was no compelling need to write the character as a young boy or kid. It just did not work well, and a change in the script would have fixed that problem.

Then we are asked to accept the idea that McQueen was repeatedly recognized by other characters a being half Indian. I am not one of those folks who thinks an Indian must be played by an Indian, or an Irish character must be played by an Irish person. This should be about actors being capable of playing characters with some degree of success. In this film, they did absolutely nothing to give McQueen any appearance of trying to have any Indian features. He was not Max Sand, half Indian; he was simply Steve McQueen, white guy. They could have easily altered his appearance by darkening his hair and skin, and that would have been more credible in giving him a half Indian appearance.

Even if these two deficiencies had been corrected, it still was not a very good film for me, and I suspect it was not a favorite McQueen film for most McQueen fans.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile