Yellow Rock (2011)

Just perfect...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

hyped garbage

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

YELLOW ROCK 2011Considering the cast involved here I was expecting an unseen little gem. It turns out to be more like cut glass. Michael Biehn, James Russo, Lenore Andriel, headline this low budget film. The Yellow Rock of the title of course refers to gold.Michael Biehn is a down on his luck cowboy hired by James Russo to look for his brother and son. The problem here is that the pair are most likely lost on Indian lands. The local tribe needs to be asked for permission to cross their land.Biehn approaches a woman doctor he knows about getting said permission. The doctor is played by Lenore Andriel. (What a looker) Miss Andriel introduces Biehn to the Indian chiefs for a talk. Permission is granted as long as the men take along one of the tribe, Michael Spears. The doc, Andriel, also joins the group in case there are any injured among the missing.Needless to say matters go south in a hurry as the Russo and his men, Christopher Backus, Clay Wilcox, Paul Sloan, Brian Gleason and Peter Sherayko just ride right through some burial grounds. Biehn begins to smell a large rat in the old cupboard.And right he is as Russo and company are really after a healthy supply of gold hidden in an old mine. Guns are drawn and the Indian guide, Spears, is soon shot full of holes and left for dead. The man though is only wounded and will soon return for a spot of vengeance.Of course the old western chestnut of the men turning on each other as gold fever takes hold is used. Bodies drop with finally only Biehn and Andriel surviving to ride out of the hills.I really wanted to like this one, but the shopworn story defeats the film. The look of the production is good, but it cannot cover the plot problems. I would give the actors full marks for effort. A bigger budget and a firmer hand on the direction would have helped.

I keep looking for any Michael Biehn film available because I do like the man's talent and choices of work. Reminds me a lot of Heath Ledger as he takes chances and is never disappointing in his choices even if the film itself doesn't come up to par.Yellow Rock is somewhere in between a good film and a fair film. Story line could be stronger with more emphasis on Biehn's character. I felt he delivered as much as he could but felt the script fell short in giving him more to do. It seems he started out well and along the way was forgotten about. We got too caught up in the villains and the gold. Sort of a Treasure of Sierra Madre with out the script and/or characters to back it up.The female lead was not a good choice. She seemed out of place, not belonging in the time era. Too modern or something. Her acting was okay, but not strong enough to carry the film as certainly they didn't give Biehn anything to do to carry the film.So I give this a 5 for scenery, Michael Biehn and the Old West.

I recently rented yellow rock and was surprised. I had gathered that it was a low budget Indie film. It sure did not look low budget. There was a large cast of well known actors, beautiful sets and a clear and well lighted picture. These are things I would associate with "not low budget project", but there they were! Now the story: It is a western in the real traditional sense, but, and here is the important part, it offers a window into the lives of the Native American Peoples of California prior to their destruction. A fascinating, lost history with a touch of pathos for what has been destroyed. Of course, It is not on the scale of Dances with Wolves due to the budget, but it is a well researched and very enjoyable movie. An indie that looks like a big budget production.

Westerns are a rare event in this day and age. We are obsessed with the future: cybernetics, machines, space, we end up forgetting about the original final frontier. A frontier that did not require a degree in science to achieve, but simply a spirit of adventure and a will to survive. Yellow Rock may not revolve around the idea of discovery, but rather the effects of discovery. Although practically a cliché at this point, the classic story of the white man abusing the kindness of Native Americans is a formula that works, especially for this movie's favor.Yellow Rock has several aspects supporting it that could only be achieved in a Western film. The atmosphere achieves a sense of tensity, but feels campy and fun at the same time. The two protagonists, an independent woman doctor and a man with a troubled past, are likable and competent. The antagonists are cartoon evil, and although the film attempts to hide the real villains, most people will catch on rather quickly. In truth, the "plot twist" may be the weakest part of the movie simply by how predictable it is. Regardless, Yellow Rock is a solid Western, and if you have an itch for anything new, you should give it a fair shot.