Ed's Review Dot Com

EuropaCorp, Ithaca, The Javelina Film Company,

Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Meryl Streep, Miranda Otto, John Lithgow, James Spader

Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) is a tough old single broad living out west in a small farming community. She’s definitely a lady, longing for a husband and children, but destined to a long lonely single life due to the fact that men say she’s too bossy and way to damn plain looking. Times are very hard in the little town, and three of the wives have suffered very horrible tragedies and have lost their minds. A danger to their husbands and families, the minister in the little church has made arrangements for them to be taken back across the plains and across the river where they will be cared for by a church there where they have some relatives. But who can make the 5 week or so journey across the dried up plains to accompany these women. Mary Bee talks the reverend into letting her take the journey as she has no family to support and can cook and take care of the women and she is just as tough of any of the men. She rounds up an goofy old outlaw, George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) whom she rescues from being hanged and coerces him into accompanying the 4 women on the journey. Needless to say it is a long hard journey filled with danger and hardships, and only their will to go on keeps them going.

This was a very surprising film to me. I was really blown away by it. I have not seen a western in a long time, and this was a really great story. The script is excellent, and it’s filled with top notch performers like James Spader, Meryl Streep, John Lithgow and others. The setting is dreary and dark and very realistic and you really feel the pain of the times they are going through. The performances of Hillary and Tommy Lee are simply outstanding, but it’s the humor set against that harsh reality of frontier life that is so impressive. This is an excellent film, and certainly a hidden gem. I don’t know how I never heard about this film and just stumbled across it by accident, but it was a serendipitous moment when I put this one on. There are some problems, mostly in the timing of the story as there are conflicting statements about what time of year this story is set, but it’s easy to overlook that, as it’s not that important. It’s sometimes hard to watch, as it’s so realistic, and it’s definitely stark, but I couldn’t turn away, and I was disappointed when it was over, as I wanted to know more. This is one film well worth tracking down, especially if you’re fond of really great Westerns.

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Ocean Blue Entertainment,

Ed Harris, Michael Peña, Eva Longoria, Amy Madigan, Aden Young

A former Arizona sheriff’s wife, Olivia (Amy Madigan) is killed while riding her horse along their ranch property near the Mexican border. When her husband Roy (Ed Harris) comes to find her, it appears to him that she was killed by some Mexican guys who were sneaking across the border, and he sets out to find them and see they are punished. But there are many layers to this film, and as he peels back layer by layer, the story may be quite different in the end.

This is, first and foremost, a western. Western’s are very rare in today’s cinema. That fact on it’s own is a big plus for the film. But I’ve seen several pretty good border crossing movies, and I truly think this is the best of the genre. This movie doesn’t really pick sides, but is an excellent look at all the different sides of the issue. As in real life, there is no black and white, but many shades of gray. The acting in this film is wonderful. Ed Harris is perfect as the ex-sheriff who is love with his wife, but who resents her kindness to the people who enter illegally. The story is very rich, and excellently crafted, and they told the story in a beautiful way. We know the truth from the moment it happened, but the truth, although Roy tries his best to find it for good or bad, is not the important thing. It’s how the facts affect everyone in a different way. I felt this was one of the best acted, best told stories I have seen in a long long time. This is a film that ought to be gathering much more attention than it did, and it’s certainly one of those hidden gems that come and go without attracting a lot of buzz, but if you’re lucky enough to stumble across it, it’s well worth your time. I really enjoyed this story, and I bet you will too.

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VT Films, Flywheel & Shyster, Globomedia Cine,

Robert Duvall, Jeremy Irvine, Angie Cepeda, Luis Tosar, Joaquín Cosio, Javier Gutiérrez

Red Bovine *(Robert Duvall) is a cantankerous old rancher in Texas who is about to lose his ranch. He is not going to go out without a fight though. Estranged from his son who lives in New York, on the day they came to take his house, his grandson Gally (Jeremy Irvine) shows up. He’s dropped out of college for a while, and wants to get to know his Grandfather since he’s never heard much at all about him from his father, and what he did wasn’t good. They start off on a road trip and end up going to Mexico for a fine night of women and drink when a coincidence puts them afoul of the Mexican drug cartel that wants to kill them all. With a hopeful singer/stripper in tow (Angie Cepeda) they use their best skills to stay ahead of the killer that are after them.

This is a rough and violent story, but one with a lot of heart. This is one of the best roles I’ve seen for Robert Duvall in many years. It’s perfect for him, as a grumpy old goat who might remind you of Walter Matthau in “Grumpy Old Men”, he’s a softie at heart. As tough as he tries to be, we know he’s a sweetheart underneath, and it shows. He pulls this off perfectly. This is a buddy picture of a Grandpa and a Grandson he doesn’t even know, getting to know one another and find a way to build a bridge. But the unexpected events gives us a real suspenseful trip through the dangerous back streets of Mexico. I found this to be a very interesting story, with a great West Texas feel, and a great script, with an excellent cast. There is so many good things going for this film, that I don’t really know why it was not that successful. It’s an Indie film, and perhaps it didn’t have the budget for promotion, but I was really pleased with the quality of this story. I was riveted throughout, both with the relationship between the three leads and the suspense of the chases and outsmarting of the bad guys. It was a really good film, and though it’s fairly adult content, it was an excellent picture and one I can recommend.

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Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Blind Wink Productions,

Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale, Bryant Prince, Barry Pepper

In the 1930’s a little boy wearing a mask and carrying a toy gun visits the wild west museum at a traveling carnival. As he pauses in front of the display showing the Native American in his natural habitat, the very old Indian brave is suddenly startled to see the masked man in front of him. He comes to life and begins to tell the fascinated little boy his name is Tonto (Johnny Depp) and of his adventures in the olden days riding with John Reid (Armie Hammer) a Texas Ranger, and John’s brother, Dan Reid (James Badge Dale) also a Ranger. The were chasing the notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) as he did the bidding of one Latham Cole (Tom Wilkinson) who was overseer of the Transcontinental Railroad, but more interested in stealing, and certainly not afraid to do anything to get what they want.

This Princess Bride type story follows the tales of an aged Tonto as he describes (and maybe embellishes a bit) the story of the beginning of the lifelong friendship between The Lone Ranger and Tonto. I have been waiting to see this movie for over a year now. Somehow when it came out on NetFlix, I didn’t get it, and I fell into the “Very Long Wait” pit for a long, long time, until it got buried further and further down in my queue to never have a chance to get back to the top. I had planned to pick it up at Redbox, but never managed to do that. Out of sight, out of mind. Then along came the release of the new season opener of “Outlander” the series on Starz, and they offered everyone a free premier weekend to try to hook us all on the series. But I happened to notice “The Lone Ranger” and I set the DVR and now finally got to see this. It’s a long movie, well over 2, almost 2 1/2 hours. It got horrible reviews, and I heard nothing but bad things about it when it was out. I suppose that kind of suppressed my desire to see this film, as I didn’t want to mourn another Disney failure.

What I found was a very interesting and well done little adventure. This is a lot like what Wild Wild West could have been, but wasn’t, and it was actually a very good well thought out script. I have decided that the primary complaint most people have with the film is thinly disguised backlash against the two lead actors. I know that a lot of people have an instant dislike to anything Johnny Depp has anything to do with. That automatically brings criticism, and of course hiring Johnny Depp (who also helped produce the film) as a Native American when there are so many real authentic Native Americans who could play the roll is a bit of a backhand to them. Likewise, Johnny Depp brings his usual smart-ass slapstick off kilter humor into it as well. For example, he wears a dead bird on his head which he keeps feeding throughout the film. He does his usual Johnny Depp shenanigans which I’m sure turned a lot of people off. Remember that despite the huge success of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Disney never wanted Johnny’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow to be the giddy childish fool of a pirate that he played, but he insisted and really couldn’t pull off anything else. But Tonto is a funny character, and he does bring a lot of humor to the situation. The Lone Ranger was made up of 20 minute episodes that fly by in a moment. It would get very tedious if they tried to keep up that level of seriousness for an entire feature film. Armie Hammer, likewise, is not a highly liked actor either. Many thought he was sorely miscast, although I don’t blame them for that choice either, as he has to be a foil for Tonto’s antics, and he’s supposed to be a big city tenderfoot who’s trying to play cowboy without the skills. Finally, I suspect there is the group that is a big fan of the original TV series, and doesn’t like the fact that they made a bit of a mockery out of it. All of these reasons, I think, rolled up together to sink this ship before it left the port. But I must say, I really enjoyed the movie, was quite interested in the entire story, and really, really liked it. I think it got a very bad rap and was not nearly as bad as people made out. Obviously it was visually stunning, the scenery in and around the West, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona is beautiful, and I thought the story was very well done. I would say if you shunned this film, to give it a chance now that it’s out on TV and DVD, and see if maybe they weren’t a little too harsh on this film.

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Universal 1440 Entertainment,

Danny Trejo, Mickey Rourke, Anthony Michael Hall, Dina Meyer, Richard Dillane, Colin Mace, Emil Hostina, Ovidiu Niculescu

When Guerrero (Danny Trejo) arrives in the town they call Tombstone he decides he and his gang are going to take control. But the gang double crosses him and kills him. Guerrero ends up in hell where he’s faced by the devil (Mickey Rourke) who is rather excited to have him to torture for eternity. But Guerrero makes a deal with the devil that in exchange for his life, he will kill every one of the gang members and trade their souls for his own. With time running out, he has to avenge each one by his own hand or return to the devil.

This is a movie for Trejo fans. If you love Machete and you can’t wait until the third installment, then this is made for you. It’s a straight out western, no aliens or zombies running around, unless you count Guerrero coming back from the dead, so it’s not as gimmicky as many other westerns lately. It’s just bad ass versus bad ass in an all out gun battle royal. Mikey Rourke is a plus to the cast, and he makes a pretty decent devil, but it’s definitely all Trejo. There’s not much more to say, as it’s a decent movie, but certainly not great. It doesn’t have the star power that the Machete films do, and most mainstream audiences aren’t going to get this, but it’s made for the people who loved the spaghetti westerns of the 70’s. The Terrence Hill, Bud Spencer’s Trinity films, the Clint Eastwood westerns, and the Lee Van Cleef, Lee Marvin westerns of old. This is a newer breed, but in a similar vein, so it should be easy to tell before going in if this is the kind of movie that will appeal to you or not. If you’re the right kind, you’ll enjoy the adventure. Otherwise, stay away. It will be absurd to you.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog