This movie has the right style but it's lacking the right sort of story to go along with it.

On the one hand this really is a great movie but on the other, it at the very same time is an extremely average one as well. That probably sounds a bit weird and cryptic, so let me elaborate. I actually for most part was really loving the movie because it at all times felt like it was building up toward something great and interesting. The main characters are greatly written and intriguing ones. It's the sort of movie in which most of the interesting stuff isn't happening in its main story but it's in the little details and all of its underlying plot lines. However, the thing this movie didn't handle too well was the way how it resolved things. Like I said, the movie has a great build up but is there ever a decent enough payoff as well? In my opinion that was really missing from this movie. It relies too much on the viewer's ability to piece everything together for themselves. This movie really doesn't answer all of its questions and how is everything resolved- and how are its characters supposed to be redeemed exactly by the end of this movie? Too many questions and not enough answers. The build up to it all is wonderful but the eventual end result still feels a bit too simplistic and disappointing to be honest, making this movie ultimately nothing more but an average one to watch.

It basically is a typical small town crime story, in which everyone is a suspect and everyone has some sort of secret or past they are trying to hide or run away from. It also has a very typical atmosphere and style to it, which is making this movie almost a more art-house type of movie and I mean that in a positive way. The atmosphere of the movie keeps things perfectly tense and mysterious, in the sense that you never really know what is coming next.

We don't often get to see Peter Stormare playing lead roles in movies but he does so in this one. And yes, he's also definitely great in it. Granted that that also had a lot to do with the writing and his character but it of course also remains true that the simply played his role really well.

Visually and technically it's definitely a better movie than it is story-wise. This means that by far Ed Gass-Donnelly is a better director than he is a writer. I'm also definitely interested in seeing more movies like this, done by Ed Gass-Donnelly, as long as it's written by someone else or has some additional writers involved, besides Gass-Donnelly.

An only half successful movie.

6/10

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Westerns never really have been my thing, let alone new age westerns. Modern style of film-making just doesn't feel all that suitable for the western genre, in my opinion, so I'm never really excited to watch a new one when it comes out. And perhaps this is also the attitude you should have toward this movie. That way, when your expectations for it aren't too high, this movie won't disappoint you and might even surprise you, since its definitely not a bad movie at all. Nothing too remarkable but certainly not as bad as you perhaps would expect.

It's a well enough made movie, all things considering. I mean, this clearly is not a movie with a too high budget, or else it also wouldn't had featured Christian Slater as the main star but it still does a lot of things well and never becomes a horrible or boring movie to watch.

The main reason why this still remains a far from great movie is its story. It's just a tad bit too simplistic all and not all that engaging. It besides seems to be lacking a certain roughness and rawness to it, making this movie feel like a bit of a fluffy western-wannabe. It has a bit too many soap opera like developments to it as well, which really wasn't all that necessary for the movie and its main story.

Sure, I know this movie is based off on an early John Wayne movie but even John Wayne made some disappointing westerns, of which "The Dawn Rider" was one. So it's not like its source material was any more solid really and they actually did very little to improve on it.

You still might expect something more or something special since Donald Sutherland also stars in this but this is what Sutherland is often up to now days; starring in as many bad low budgeted productions as he can, when he isn't working on something big, as if he hasn't build up enough pension yet. Besides, it's a small part and he doesn't really impress with it.

I have to say the action is somewhat decent in this and it at least shows some blood as well, which is not something that could be said for every western out there. There are a couple of nice shootouts, that seem more suitable for an action flick but they are welcome additions to this movie, regardless.

The movie really is nothing too great but it's still much better than you most likely would expect.

5/10

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