Western Religion

A sign outside the town says "Religion, AZ." AZ is a zip code designation that began in 1963. The sign should have said, "Religion, Ariz."

I watch what is on. I could pay more to get movies from sources other than broadcast TV, including paying for regular cable channels. I don't. So this is the second time in a month I have seen a Western where The Devil makes deals for people's souls and we see dead people. It's not that I want to see these but it's what's on.

This is not a family friendly Western but once cleaned up for TV, I suppose it's not too bad, though the V-chip rating was TV-14. I didn't think it was all that violent. The language had to be sanitized a couple of times.

It's not a comedy but there is plenty to laugh at. And some good acting. James Anthony Cotton James Anthony Cotton is your typical old West huckster. And there are Holiday Hadley as Bess, Peter Sherayko as Southern Bill and of course Louie Sabatasso as Salt Peter.

Not exactly groundbreaking, but I suppose it is entertaining if you like Westerns.

Sometimes you can't believe that you sat through a whole movie and this is one of them. Religion is a fine example of the contempt that many Movie/TV execs have for the viewing public. Religion is a prime example of how a script written in a drug induced haze, thrown together quickly using no name actors, cheap sets poor acting, and even worse direction can still get airtime. It felt strangely Canadian. The high point in it, funny enough, was the flamboyant performance of the quirky character of Salt Peter who seemed more out of place in a western than any of the other weird characters.

I dunno what to make of this flick. For the first 15 minutes or so, all I could think was "are they serious, or is someone playing a joke on me?"

It's like some high school trust fund kid bought a couple of expensive cameras, wrote a script in 2 hours, then asked all his friends and relatives to act in it.

It doesn't get better, though 2-3 members of the cast actually do quite a respectable job with the painful lines they were given. The rest of the cast must have made a wrong turn on the way to the porn set, and stumbled into this one by mistake. I suspect part of this is due to the director, though, as the entire thing feels like a live-action cartoon.

AND YET:

I actually kinda' enjoyed it. (watching for free, late at night, too tired to get any work done & so just vegging out.) The cinematography, sound, and even the soundtrack are all actually quite excellent. That trust-fund kid must have hired the best PD in Hollywood.

The basic plot isn't bad either, (though it takes an awfully long time to get to any sort of, you know, point) so the flick does move along in an entertaining way.

Very, very strange. I find it hard to even give it a rating.

Great story line but totally pathetic acting, proves if you pay peanuts you get monkeys