Red Hill (2010)

At a glance:
A classic modern-day western with horror overtones, Red Hill brings an Australian backcountry flavor to the genre

Our review (with spoilers):
This modern day Australian western appears to be ultra-conservative – so much so, in fact, that one begins to suspect there will be a major twist. A small town in outback Australia is cold toward young policeman Shane (Ryan Kwanten) who has recently moved from an unnamed big city to provide a more peaceful life for his pregnant wife. But on his first day, he walks into the middle of conflict. The Inspector, played by a scenery-chewing Steve Bisley, is adamant about preserving the old town values like free use of the land, and is against things like new age business nature preserves. The normal, quiet day turns very serious when a convicted murderer breaks out of prison and heads for Red Hill. The locals all know he is coming back for vengeance, so they arm heavily. But this man, an aboriginal tracker, is more than a match for them, and begins killing them one by one.

The aboriginal man never says a word, is horribly scarred, and kills almost everyone he meets, and thus he seems way too evil – almost like a horror movie star. But there is more to the story, and it’s up to Shane to figure it out. The facts are laid out for him a bit too easily in the end – a signed deathbed confession by one of the perpetrators – but there are enough effective moments in the film that we can forgive director Patrick Hughes his occasional wide brush strokes and clichés.

Rating: 2.75 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"If Red Hill isn't quite a classic, it surely is a work of genuine passion for a genre that's unmistakable, and unkillable."
- Marc Savlov (Austin Chronicle)

Appaloosa (2008)

Movie quotes:
Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons): You a drinking man, Marshall?
Virgil Cole (Ed Harris): Not so much.
Randall Bragg: And, uh…Mr. 8 gauge over there?
Virgil Cole: Mr. Everett Hitch
Randall Bragg: You a drinking man, Everett?
Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen): Not so much.
Randall Bragg: Hard to like a man who doesn’t drink a little.
Virgil Cole: But not impossible.

Everett: You got feelings about Allie, don’t you?
Virgil: I cared about Allie in town, and I’ll care about her when I get her back, but right now, there’s somethin’ runnin’, and we’re trying to catch it.

[after a shoot-out]
Everett Hitch: That was quick.
Virgil Cole: Yeah, everybody could shoot.

Allison French: You're a bastard! Don't listen to him. He tried to put his hands on me when I showed him our house.
Everett Hitch: No, Virgil. I did not.
Virgil Cole: No, Allie. Everett didn't do that.
Allison French: You believe him over me?
Virgil Cole: That's correct.

At a glance:
Appaloosa emulates the classic western; it has modest ambitions, and relies on its quieter moments to produce a memorable chemistry between its two protagonists

Our review:
Two professional gunmen/lawmen, Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) ride into a lawless town that is controlled by the unscrupulous murderer Randall Bragg and his gang. Hired to clean up the town, Cole and Hitch start by writing their own strict laws regarding the reach of their own power (which is absolute). Order is restored, but the pursuit of Bragg for murder and the arrival of young widow Allison French (Renée Zellweger) cause complications. Ed Harris, directed, starred, and co-wrote this elegantly simple, low-budget western that sticks closely to the feel of a good B movie of the 40s/50s. Harris and Mortensen give the feeling that they really have been partners for ages. Jeremy Irons does an above par job of giving a believable rough edge to the baddie. Zellweger isn’t given much to do initially; later, her character deepens a little and her personality becomes more intriguing.

Here’s a little nit: As Virgil and Everett are escorting Randall across the river, they both have their guns pointed at him. He is between the two men. If they do decide to shoot him, there’s a good chance one of the bullets will go straight through him and hit one of them.

Rating: 2.75 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"A gentle, warmly human and quietly compelling western with a wry sense of humour and some engaging performances from a group of fine actors."
-Mike Goodridge (Screen International)

Seraphim Falls (2006)

Movie quotes:
Hayes (Michael Wincott): Reckon we ought to camp somewheres else?
Carver (Liam Neeson): Afraid the word of God will spoil your digestion?
Hayes: I never was much for scripture.
Carver: Nothing to fear, Mr. Hayes. Them's just words. Ain't no God out here.

At a glance:
There’s the nucleus of a good man vs man western and some beautiful location filming in Seraphim Falls, but it is ruined by Pierce Brosnan’s overacting, and by a script that veers from reality to fantasy

Our review:
Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) did something really nasty to  Carver (Liam Neeson). I know this, because Carver has hired 4 helpers to track down and kill Gideon somewhere in the snow-covered mountains. Suffice to say, Gideon did a very bad thing, but the film tries to make out like Gideon just kind of didn’t think it through – just a mistake, really. That’s just one of the fuzzy plot points in the uneven Seraphim Falls.

The movie opens as Gideon gets shot, jumps into an icy stream, survives a drop over a 40 foot waterfall, removes the bullet from his arm with his knife, heats the knife and cauterizes the wound, then keeps on running from his attackers. Somehow, he survives all this, mainly by moaning and groaning non-stop. When he is taken in by a ranching family, he changes to mumbling and breathing his lines in a kind of Grizzly Adams slash Godfather style. And yet, even though Brosnan’s acting is lacking, it’s still true that when the story moves away from him as the pursued mystery man, things get a little boring.

The second problem is that the movie can’t decide if it a realistic survivalist documentary (there are plenty of scenes of Gideon lighting fires, setting traps, whittling saplings, etc.) or a mythical story. Toward the end, the mood changes, and the film suddenly becomes dreamlike and all symbolic, populated with supporting characters (Angelica Huston and Wes Studi) that spout prosaic advice. The beautiful mountain and desert locations can’t compensate for the all-over-the-place script.

By the way, the brilliant stunt of falling over the waterfall won Mark Vanselow and Craig Hosking a Best Specialty Stunt - Taurus award. The performer was cabled to a helicopter; the cable was slackened to allow a free fall into the falls, and a bungee was used for retrieval. No CGI was used for the stunt. Rating: 2 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"An unremarkable revenge/chase western, bolstered by its name cast, matter-of-fact violence and Toll’s pristine photography. Eventually a little pretentious – with Anjelica Huston’s cameo the nadir – but if you love oaters, it’s just worth the time."
- Nev Pierce (Total Film)

"An unconvincing attempt at an old-fashioned western, Seraphim Falls works best as a chase thriller but falls apart when it tries to harness the mythic power of the American frontier."
- Jamie Russell (Channel 4 Film)

The Proposition (2005)

"I will civilize this land."
- Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone)

"You got me, Charlie…what’re you gonna do now?"
- Arthur Burns (Danny Huston)

In a brutally painted Australian outback of the 1800s, an obsessed policeman (Ray Winstone) tries to track down the most murderous of three brothers, by threatening brother number one (Guy Pearce) with the murder of brother number two (Richard Wilson) if he does not kill brother number three (Danny Huston). The heat of the landscape is enhanced by a washed out, yellow-tinted photography. Just as brutal as Apocalypto, but obviously made in a sincere attempt to chronicle the true, violent side of this era with a gritty realism (rather than simply showing exploitative violence). Mean-spirited, but at the same time respectful of its subjects, and beautifully filmed. A stellar cast (Emily Watson, John Hurt, David Wenham) gets to shine, as does the famous Australian aboriginal actor, David Gulpilil, as Jacko. This genre (like horror) is not appealing to me, so I cannot give it my highest marks, but of its ilk, it is excellent. Rating: 2.5 of 4 reviewed 28 Nov 2007

"Murder ballad for the slice-and-dice age, a film of sensitive artistry laced with gore."
- Amy Biancolli (Houston Chronicle)

"An amazingly rich, vicious Western."
- Jeffrey M. Anderson (Combustible Celluloid)

"Hillcoat creates a vision as nihilistic as any horror film ever put on a screen, but so well acted and carefully conceived that it transcends exploitation."
- Colin Covert (Minneapolis Star Tribune)