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I have been looking forward for this film all summer, and I wasn't
disappointed. If you read my other
reviews, you know that I like it when an otherwise unknown actor gets a
chance to shine. Going into this film,
the only actors that I knew were Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, Kathy Bates,
and Ali Larter. I was extremely
impressed with Will McCormack, Gregory Smith, and Nathaniel Arcand.
Will played the middle brother of the
Younger brothers and Gregory played his brother Jimmy. Arcand
wasn't one of the James or Younger
brothers, but he still had a big part in the gang. The acting was
excellent.
So, what
was this about? First off, the film is about Jesse James. It
starts out at the end of the civil
war with Jesse (Colin Farrell) and his older brother Frank (Gabriel
Macht) along with the Younger
brothers Cole (Scott Caan) and Bob (Will McCormack). The war ends
and they go home to find out that the
railroad company wants to build the road through their farms. They
refuse to sell their land and they go
to "war" with the railroad company. They rob banks that
have the title deeds to peoples farms
and the money they steal goes to the people of their hometown.
Think Robin Hood of the west.
That's pretty much the story, and a great one at that, but I don't want
to go into further detail because you
should really see the movie.
The score
is pretty good too, all thanks to Trevor Rabin. If he sounds familiar,
it's because he did the score for
"Con Air", "Armageddon", "Gone in 60
Seconds", "Remember the Titans", and "Deep Blue
Sea". While the score was good, the
songs seemed out of place. Well, actually there was only one song that seemed out of place. They
played Moby's "Find My Baby" at the beginning and at the end.
Don't get me wrong, I like Moby, but I would
have chosen a more upbeat or rock song. Not a very good
choice.
Back to
the acting. There are some really good actors in small roles that
do fairly well. Timothy Dalton
plays Allan Pinkerton, the guy trying to catch the James-Younger gang. Kathy Bates is great
as
usual but her role isn't big enough for it to really count...which is
unfortunate. Ronny Cox and
Harris Yulin also have small roles and present believable characters.
Now to the best of them all: Colin
Farrell. Some people have questioned the decision to cast an Irish actor in one of the most American
roles there could be, but those people must not have seen Colin
Farrell act. He once again brilliantly hides his Irish accent and
performs an American accent to
perfection. This guy's gonna be big.
One of the
best things about this film is that it's for the entire family.
There is little to no bad language
('bastard' is about as bad as it gets), and there is no sex or
nudity. Take the kids to see
this one. The gunfights are done without too much blood and they
are really well done and fun to
watch. This is a movie that will appeal to everyone.
Recommendation: This film is a nice
change of pace from all the sequels of late, and if you like westerns,
a good gunfight, and witty dialogue, then this one should definitely NOT
be missed. I highly recommend
it.
-- James
( 3 out of 4 pops )
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