Westender (2004)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I persevered with this movie thinking that somewhere along the line it would all come together. I really wish that i could have those 102 minutes of my life back so that i could do something worthwhile with them. No real storyline, no real plot, no real idea of what it was trying to be. Just a series of unrelated scenes with a lead actor who makes Clive Owen look like Olivier. At one point near the end in the desert scene a young child ran off crying, i really thought that she was going to ask her mother to get her out of this picture.... The ending made me think that this was a really bad pilot for a really bad series that hopefully will never be made.

My only problem with Brock Morse's "Westender" is that it whets my appetite without satisfying it. But this obviously is intentional. The film is well crafted, fascinating in its struggle to tell a story mainly through visual means, and true to the director's intent. It is up to the viewer to draw personal meaning from much of what is placed on screen, but the tools used here are very compelling indeed. Let's hope that someone with the economic clout necessary will fund the continuation of this saga, so we can get the back-story straight, as well as the future of the main character. I loved especially the choices of subjects for this film. Each is a perfect fit, visually. There is something consistently visceral about the appeal of not only the lush scenery that forms the backdrop of this little Indy epic, but also the actors themselves. Stadel is a perfect fit, of course, but so is Rob Simonson as Glim (bigtime kudos on the heart-wrenchingly gorgeous musical score by him too!), very reminiscent of Kevin O'Conner. Darlene Dadras as Sarin was also a compelling fit Asbrey's worthy gypsy distraction. Kari Gjone is down-right haunting as Asbrey's lost lady love; I got the feeling that it would definitely be worth turning into a shiftless drunk over the loss any woman so beautiful! The wolf-dog is such a perfect symbol for the spirit of knighthood that pursues Asbrey as he flees from his true calling.What can I say but, "Hey, Brock! Let's see more! Real soon!

The visually perfect endless series of paintings: astoundingly beautiful, surreal and lifeful. One of the most atmospheric movies I've ever seen, fresh and worthy of remembrance. No, it's no action, it's even somewhat slow. Out of all standards, sometimes it even looks like a sort of a video-clip put to the majestic (not bombastic!) symphonic music of Rob Simonsen. Despite of a plenty of dramatic moments the film still leaves a good trace. The story looks really like a part of the main character's life, not just a story written by an author: characters appear and disappear playing their roles in the spiritual quest of the hero, the hero moves to his ghost-like aim haunted by the memories of his recently lost love, analyzing his chivalrous past and finding himself on the rediscovered path of honour. A little-known gem. Hardly believable that someone is still able to make such movies in 2003. 10 out of 10.

I love fantasy and SF in film, from cheesy Japanese rubber suiters to big budget Spielberg. Bad films have their own peculiar charm. It pains me to report that "Westender" is a bona fide bomb that fails on just about every level. It's an attempt to combine several genres, which as we've all seen can work pretty well. The problem is, it does all of them badly.The "Heroic Quest" forms the basis of the plot. Without giving too much away, the story line is as formulaic and generic as you can get...MINUS the final moment of resolution/redemption that usually caps this kind of film. It didn't really end...it just sort of...stopped. Roll credits. But there are a few other film styles that waft through this stinker like farts on a breeze. They include: The "Metaphysical Journey of Exploration", exemplified (and much parodied) by directors like Bergman and Antonioni. This accounts for the interminable sequences of the sun-baked hero staggering across vast wastes. This is Symbolic, you see, of his Inner Emptiness: and the grass on the far side of the desert is Symbolic of his Newly Awakened and Heightened Spiritual Consciousness. Phew. Pretty darned mystical. With all due respect to the reviewers who found profundity in this excruciating exercise in undergrad angst...there isn't an interesting idea to be found in the whole nine hours of the film. (Yes, I know what the duration on the label says. But it FEELS like nine hours. At least.) "Revisionist Medievalism" (in the style of "Ladyhawke" or "Princess Bride") wherein people in Middle Ages costumes and settings exhibit contemporary characters and language. It can be funny. Here, it's just inconsistent and annoying. "Hommage", in which characters and situations borrowed from other films pop up, presumably to show us the director is aware of them. So we have little moments that resemble low-budget Kurusawa, Boorman, Fellini, and others. If the film worked, these might have been amusing. It doesn't, and they're not, except as a mild distraction on your descent into torpor.And one final comment for folks who have commented on the "stunning beauty" and "epic grandeur" of the scenery: you know, if you take a camera somewhere beautiful and shoot a wide shot, you're going to have a nice looking shot. There's not much trick to it.