American Outlaws

I thought this movie would be awful, but I was surprised. This film is not great, and done on a low budget, but has some entertainment value. They have the James gang portrayed as good guys in this film, not a realistic version. Timothy Dalton plays a good role as Pinkerton. In the end this film is a little like Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Released in 2001, "American Outlaws" is yet another rendition of Jesse James, Cole Younger and their Gang. This one focuses on the end of the Civil War and the first few years of the gang's activities,which lasted a whole decade in reality, from 1866-76, ending with the foiled Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery on September 7, 1876. Jesse & Frank escaped while the others were captured or died. While Frank tried to settle down to a normal life in Virginia Jesse restarted the gang in 1879, but was shot by Robert Ford, one of his trusted gang members on April 3, 1882.

"American Outlaws" is highlighted by a great cast with palpable chemistry, including Colin Farrell as Jesse, Scott Caan (aka 'Danno') as Cole, the beautiful Ali Larter as Zee, Jesse's girlfriend/wife, and Timothy Dalton as the lead Pinkerton. Gabriel Macht, Will McCormack, Nathaniel Arcand and Gregory Smith are also on hand as notable members of the gang. The film plays it fairly serious accented by a fun, joie de vivre spirit, sorta like Indiana Jones in the wild West. You can tell the cast had a blast during filming. This is the exact opposite of the grim "The Long Riders" from 1980, which is arguably the best and most accurate film about the James-Younger Gang.

As far as historical accuracy goes with "American Outlaws," well, there was a group of outlaws in Missouri called the James-Younger Gang and they did rob banks, trains, and stagecoaches in Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, West Virginia and Minnesota (whereas Jesse's later group continued the gangs' criminal legacy in Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana and Mississippi), other than this the historicity is pretty butchered for the sake of rousing Western entertainment. See "The Long Riders" for a more austere and accurate version of the tale.

BOTTOM LINE: Even though "American Outlaws" loses points for inaccuracies and implausibilities, it scores high in overall entertainment value. It's a turn-off-your-brain-and-have-a-blast kind of Western. The movie performed poorly at the box office in 2001 and Roger Ebert gave it a scathing review. Ebert compared it to 1972's "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid," which he praised. This was strange because that film wasn't exactly realistic either; in fact, it's a veritable parody or black comedy. These movies shouldn't be compared in the first place since "American Outlaws" details the gang's first year in action and "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" the gang's final bank robbery, a whole decade later. Furthermore, the two films are expressly opposite in tone: "American Outlaws" makes the wild West larger-than-life and ALMOST fun while the other film de-glamorizes it, making it profane, ugly and idiotic. In any event, "American Outlaws" is seriously rollicking Western lore worthy of one's video library.

The film was shot in Central-East Texas (great locations, by the way) and runs a short-but-sweet 94 minutes.

GRADE: B

I like Western movies. I wished Hollywood made more Western movies. So, when Hollywood does decide to quell the hunger of a Western flick fan by making one...how can one resist?

I have to say I enjoyed "American Outlaws". It isn't hard-core Western but a fun, likeable summer movie. I liked the cast of this film. Colin Farrell was fun to watch as Jesse James but I absolutely loved Gabriel Macht as his older brother Frank. Bill McCormack was funny as Bob Younger and even Scott Caan, whom you aren't sure if you should like or not gave a good performance as Cole Younger.

I liked the twist this movie offers painting the James/Younger gang as the good guys and the Pinkerton's as the bad guys. It was different and that's what made it fun.

Sure this film isn't historically accurate but who cares?? Some have complained that the shooting scenes weren't realistic enough...who cares?? Do we really need so much violence to feel satisfied? Do we need to see how a bullet ravages the human body to feel that a Western is worth while? The point is made well enough without all the blood and gore. Don't let these pointless anecdotes deter you from watching this movie. You might be surprised! I certainly was.

"American Outlaws" is a fun, family movie. We should thank Warner Bros. for making a film/Western that our kids can watch without all the other junk (bad language, nudity, sexual innuendos etc.) that inundates most movies today! If you like Westerns and even if you don't, check this one out!

Many of today's younger viewers probably won't know too much about the James Boys, and The Youngers. So they can enjoy this for what it is, "a funny, bullet dodging romp, through the wild west. ". However the older generation should probably steer clear of this one. The Goodies are Baddies, and the Baddies are Goodies. Some of the one liners could have been written by the writers of Joey or Friends, with additional material by Mel Brooks, who might have called it "Men in Strides" I notice that the stunt men and special effects (which seem mandatory in today's films,) got all the awards. Figures about right. Jesse's escape from the train is strictly Van Damme. So, if you've never heard of Bob Ford, watch this, you'll probably enjoy it. However, if you are old enough to remember Bob, and Tyrone Power, I have a feeling that you won't.

It's not the Long Riders and it's not Who shot Jesse James. It's loosely factual and sometimes comical. Make up your own mind. It's entertaining and isn't that what movies are supposed to be?