A Sierra Nevada Gunfight (2013)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

After a full three minutes of title sequence we finally get into the movie, only to discover the most cliché of all western gaffs - the fact the actors, supposedly products of the old west, all look like they just came from the dry cleaners. I always wonder how folk who had to do their laundry by hand, beating the hell out of the cloth on a wash board, have clothes that show no wear whatsoever.Did he really shoot a dear at distance with a shotgun? Then he expects the boy to finish it off? First rule of a hunter, you shot - you got to hunt it down and kill it. So the son continues to run after the deer while the dad slips and falls down the hill and hits his head on a rock. Only to meet up with the son at the bottom of the hill. Meanwhile the kid keeps pointing the loaded shotgun at his dad, I'm wondering when it's going to go off - Now THAT would be interesting.Searching for the bleeding dear father and son come upon a family that has been massacred. SON: What happened? DAD: Something bad. Whoa! That's practically Shakespeare dialog right there.Sudden noise startles the son so he wheels around. But this is the only time he doesn't actually point the shotgun. A wolf comes and the kid drops the shotgun and runs. I'm thinking this kid won't live long in the wild.DAD: Go wash up for supper, boy. Why? Everyone in this whole movie looks like they just stepped out of the shower.The dad sucks as an actor. His bio says he's an "award winning" actor. It's hard to believe. Razzie Award maybe. He yells or growls every line. He makes Steven Segal seem like Brando.I think the kid has a boy crush on Michael Madsen's character. It's kinda creepy.DAD: We need to dig another six feet today. Implying that they had already dug six feet? And not a spec of dirt on them anywhere?At first I was wondering how the kid could mine in a mine shaft without a lantern. But then I see that he was only about 5 feet into what looks like a long tunnel. What is the point of digging a long mine tunnel if you're going to dig near the very opening of it?Dad drops the sluice on his leg and now we get the worst example of over acting since Nicolas Cage in The Wicker Man. "Not the bees! Not the bees!"SON: Who was it? DAD: Injuns, maybe. Or worse, bushwhackers. SON: Did you get a good look at 'em? DAD: Yeah, but they was moving so fast, I couldn't make 'em out for who they was? Well, did you get a good look at 'em or didn't you? If you didn't then just say so. Damn, who writes this tripe?Throughout this whole movie the son, Casper, has portrayed an image of someone who was uncomfortable with his situation in life. He's not happy about something. It finally dawned on me - he doesn't want to be in this movie. Deep down inside he knows that every scene he shares with the other guy is a chance that he'll never be offered another role for the rest of his life.I can't take anymore of this.