Traded

I recently had the pleasure of viewing the film traded. The 19th century Western stars Kris Kristofferson, Tom Sizemore and has an appearance by Quinton Aaron. I was happy to see Quinton Aaron of whom I wondered what he would appear in after starring in The Blind Side.

The film was fun and entertaining. Normally I am not a fan of westerns as I find them repetitive with the same characters, theme and action. Traded is the exception to the rule. Intelligent writing has caused interesting and believable characters. The dialogue is unique and not sleep inducing. The plot is well thought out and unfolds on screen seamlessly. I could not take my eyes off of the screen.

I recommend Traded to anyone who is a fan of good film. You will not be disappointed.

RELEASED IN 2016 and directed by Timothy Woodward Jr., "Traded" stars Michael Paré as a father ruthlessly pursuing his runaway daughter (Brittany Elizabeth Williams) who has fallen prey to slavers in the prostitution trade. Trace Adkins plays an intimidating saloon owner while Kris Kristofferson is on hand as a bartender seeking redemption from the filth he's forced to live amidst. Tom Sizemore plays a nasty buyer in the slave-whore business.

This is a low-budget Western that has some technical weaknesses, like dubious continuity/editing, but a compelling story, gritty tone, brutal violence and fine locations, costuming & score. If you don't appreciate dark, violent modern Grade B Westerns like "Hickok" (2017) and "6 Guns" (2010) don't bother. The plot is obviously a melding of "Hardcore" (1979) and "Taken" (2008) in the Old West, but without the blockbuster resources. There are a lot of UN-pleasant elements as we see what those saloon babes REALLY had to go through in the Old West.

There are some unexpected highlights, like Marie Oldenbourg as "Girl" in a meaty subplot, but the way it concludes (the subplot) is a missed opportunity. As dark and brutal as the movie is, there are thankfully brief rays of light, hope, reverence and (hopefully) happiness.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 38 minutes and was shot at Paramount Ranch, Agoura, California and areas nearby. WRITER: Mark Esslinger.

GRADE: B-

This movie starts of very slow but eventually it has some action. It was also a bit predictable. I totally saw the end coming.

Like Liam Neeson's 'Taken' franchise, this is a 'father-chases-daughter's-kidnapper' movie. Funny enough, I could not even tell the difference between the two other than the costumes and weapons used. So the verdict is simple - if you like action movies where the goodies always win the day (and get to take the daughter home), this is for you.Sit back and enjoy. Forget about comments made by others that there are acting, stories etc, this is not a film for awards, and I nearly forget ... the veteran actor Kris Kristofferson. He did not even appear for more than 5 minutes. So don't buy your ticket because of him. Other than all that, it's a pleasant film for a couple of hours.

Can't go wrong with Kris Kristofferson in your western, too.

In the same premise as the movie Taken, a man, who just lost his son to a snake bite, loses his daughter to white slavery and has to use a particular set of skills he retired 15 or so years before to bring her back.

The movie gives this speech at the beginning of the film that talks about how slavery has just ended but white slavery still existed. It put me in the mood to see a whole movie about white slavery, but the movie was made very personal as we just followed this cowboy on his journey to finding his daughter.

Although Tom Sizemore is in the movie as a pimp trying to create the best whore house on this side of the Mississippi(his words) which made for a more insightful look at prostitution in the wild west.

Michael Paré does a great job as a lead actor playing a cowboy. silent but deadly and a real talk is cheap type of person. He's traveling all over the west looking for his daughter who was sold and traded into being a whore.

The concept of the movie is really dark, especially when the fact that through the movie you never know exactly what's going on with the daughter as the movie is all from the lead actor's point of view.

Although I must admit, the film itself is not as dark as the concept. I feel like I should have been more on the edge of my seat concern about the whereabouts of this child, rather than how bad ass the cowboy is.

Well overall, I wish this was the Taken for the prequel with Liam Neeson