Sweetwater

Interesting script, sharp, well written dialog. Several subtle "funnies" along the way. Such a delightful departure from his "norm" and excellent performance by Ed Harris. I liked this dandy Colombo with a harmlessly psychotic twist. Amy Madigan almost stole the show with one short scene, played with so few words, very, very well. Some of the sharp dialog could have been delivered better by January Jones, Bless her heart, but a lead role like this can be exhausting, I'm sure. Hope she grows into them, though, because she was easy to watch. A cast of characters keeps things interesting, And one is always watching for twists and turns. Would have been interesting to discover her situation in the end. Seemed to end somewhat abruptly without closer in that area.

This western is good because it has simple details of everyday menial experiences brought into magnified observation like the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarentino incorporate into their films that people personally identify with. Very good writing and directing. The character behavior is realistic for the period with a unique cast of established actors that have a track record of rolls in unusual movies similar to No Country for Old Men. January Jones, Ed Harris, and Mr. Root, the judge, from Justified, add the quirky features you will find worth your time. This is a no-nonsense simple story of detective work with refreshing deviance from stupid Hollywood fare.

January Jones plays the main lead in this and she is really great in this. Ed Harris also has a blast and the movie overall is a nice addition to the western genre. It has all the right ingredients (with added female nudity, which isn't something that is a given of course) and was obviously fun to shoot.

The movie itself which was playing at the Fantasy Filmfest in Germany when I watched it, is predictable because of the known story line (even without me saying where this is going, you'll see it coming from a thousand miles). But the fun you can have with it, is still there, especially if you have a soft spot for Western movies in general

This movie might not be like the usual old school westerns but I surely enjoyed it. As an atheist I already hated the priest/prophet Josiah from the first minute I saw him. And him being a racist as well he was the perfect character to hate. Jason Isaacs puts down a good performance playing the villain prophet. Ed Harris as the lunatic sheriff Jackson is also great in his role. And so is January Jones as Sarah Ramírez, the former prostitute that goes on a killing spree as revenge. I thought the whole cast did a good job. The story was well written, started slowly but build up to a climax. Certainly one of the better westerns I have seen lately.

The plot: A psychotic preacher goes too far when he begins indiscriminately murdering innocent people. A manic sheriff and gun-toting ex-prostitute team up to stop him and his followers.

I liked this film, but it's really quite shallow. If you can enjoy a minimalist, high-concept revenge thriller, this is actually pretty enjoyable. Just don't look for anything more than violent action scenes, despicable villains, and violent anti-heroes who would make Clint Eastwood proud.

As I expected, Ed Harris is the highlight of this film. His crazy sheriff is unpredictable, darkly humorous, and fun. The little bits of back story that we were fed make him intriguing, but it's a bit unfortunate that they never capitalized on any of it. I thought that maybe there'd be plot twists and complicated alliances, like a Sergio Leone film, but I guess this isn't that kind of film. No, it's basically a beat-em-up video game where the hero kills all the villain's henchmen and then does a boss fight.

There are quite a few postmodern touches to the film that may annoy old-school Western fans. For one thing, this a modern revenge thriller that's been transposed into a Western setting. As such, I don't think this was really meant to appeal to fans of classic Westerns. Instead, it's going for the Quentin Tarantino crowd, though it could have used more style and quotable dialog. For a poor man's QT film, this is not bad, but I'd recommend the real thing instead.