robert redford pbs mystery adaptation of tony hillerman navajo police novel completely ruin the two main character and jim chee and joe leaphorn . chee in the book be a regular guy who also happen to be deeply involve in his people culture and to the point of learn to be a singer or healer . in the film he be already an expert on all thing spiritual and the mystical indian stereotype who have no real personality and no fault to speak of and no doubt about anything and no insecurity . in hillerman book and joe leaphorn be a legendary detective who be also a highly educate scholar and at least a if not much more knowledgeable about navajo and native american culture and religion than chee . but though leaphorn knew about it all and he do not live it in the mystical sense and not be particularly religious himself . leaphorn god be logic and a belief that everything that happen and happen for a reason . in these crappy movie and poor wes studi version of leaphorn have be make into a man who know virtually nothing about his own culture and doom to be forever educate by the know it all mystic man chee . this make chee ever superior and which be very ironic and because in the book and chee always feel vastly inferior to leaphorn because of his much great police knowledge and education and and experience . and it be this part of the relationship that make their two character so interest when throw together . producer robert redford take two fairly complex character ( by paperback mystery novel standard ) and mooshed em down into nothing but two more indian stereotype . redford first effort to adapt hillerman ( which his company now try to pretend never exist ) be errol morris the dark wind . while that flick be no masterpiece and it be head and foot above these slow and dumbed down tv movie .