The Western genre has suffered greatly over the past few
decades. Granted there are some amazing movies that have come along (TOMBSTONE,
TRUE GRIT and SILVERADO to name a few) but for the most part they aren’t around
as much as they were when movies began. So when a new one comes around that
offers something different and holds your interest from start to finish it’s
always a good thing.
Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a young man from
Scotland who has traveled across the Atlantic and is in search of the woman he
loves. Having left Scotland for reasons we don’t know as of yet, Rose Ross
(Caren Pistorious) and her father have traveled west in the hopes of beginning
a new life.
The deeply smitten Jay is in pursuit of this one true love
and heading west on his own when he meets Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender), a
bounty hunter traveling the same direction who offers his experience and
assistance helping Jay for a price. What Jay doesn’t realize is that Rose and
her father are wanted for what happened in Scotland that drove them away and
Silas is actually after them for the bounty.
As the pair travel west Silas informs Jay that he will do
what he can but that he can’t promise anything. He also insist that Jay do as
he is told and to learn from him as they go along. This leads to some painful
lessons for Jay at the hands of his now mentor, but he does indeed learn.
Encounters with animals, with Indians, a con man and with a separate group of
bounty hunters give Jay life lessons he had no idea he needed.
As their journey moves them further west they begin to
change. Jay begins to grow up a bit and Silas begins to rediscover the humanity
that seemed to have deserted them when they first met. As they near their goal,
the home of Rose and her father, the pair split. What happens from there leads
to an unexpected ending, revelations of what really happened in Scotland and
the always present shootout found in any Western.
The movie is wonderful in so many ways. The cinematography
is breathtaking in many moments, shooting in ways not used repeatedly in the
past. The scenery in the film, from the forest where they begin their journey
to the golden plains where they end it is beautiful to behold. The performances
from all involved are above standard and Fassbender once more displays why his
star is on the rise.
It would be nice if more westerns were in production but it
isn’t likely. If they were like this and word got out how good they were my
guess is the public would once more embrace the genre. Until that happens we
can all enjoy a movie like this time and time again instead.
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