The Old Way

Cage has a way of dumbing down of a film which is fine to an extent but you can't help wondering if he was the best choice for the role.

I think there are much more believable actors who would have added a lot more credibility and realism to this film and it may have become a modern classic rather than a one off throw away novelty.

Young Ryan Kiera Armstrong is the real star here and judging by her standard of ability has a good future in acting as long as she keeps her wits about her. I can see why she was chosen for this part.

Overall not a terrible way to pass some time but not a film that you would watch more than once.

I went to see this move because it had a 7.0 at the time. I don't know what you people are thinking. I even went on half-off night and still regret it. The little girl is the best actor out of the entire cast by far. Even Cage comes up short. For hardened criminals in the cowboy days, the bad guys look like frat boys dressed up for Halloween. Or, use an excellent face moisturizer from the mercantile. And any scene with them feels like you are watching a middle school theater performance. There are so many corny punch lines as well. From the first 5 minutes it was cringe and never got better. The story line was rushed and seemed like key scenes were cut. I hate to be negative but it's a bust. Movies such as True Grit and Open Range are on a far different level of plot, authenticity, and acting. This doesn't come close and felt like another low budget Netflix film where everyone did the absolute minimum. If you think this is going to be a film about raw vengeance like the trailer suggests, it isn't. I could go on but I have made my point.

This entire production felt like a high-school drama class level, budget and all. Cage basically is sleepwalking his paycheck, but little Ryan Kiera Armstrong steals the spotlight with her charisma and flair for acting. The writing was your typical seen-it-before predictable and cliched revenge Western offering up nothing new for this genre, that felt quickly and lazily written. Some of the dialogue was cheesy to the point of cringe. The directing was weak and lacked any urgency in almost every scene. Even the sets and settings felt cheap and unconvincing, and lacked any authentic Western feel. A little bit of dust and tumbleweed blowing through town would've gone a long way getting to that Western feel. Even the normally comfortable 95 min runtime felt longer with poor pacing and the underwhelming narrative. It's a generous 5/10 from me, all for the young Armstrong's impressive performance.

First off it is not possible to make a bad-looking movie in Montana, the state is too beautiful. The main reason I wanted to watch this movie is Nic Cage, while I don't like all his movies I like him as an actor, he always gives it 101% and he does it here.

The first scene shows us who he is, Nicolas Cage plays Colton Briggs, a notorious, emotionless gunslinger. And we see a number of killings early, in the street. One of the dead, shot in the forehead, has his young son as a witness and we sense that he will eventually grow up and seek revenge.

Flash forward 20 years, Briggs has settled down, he owns a store in town, he has a beautiful wife and a 12-yr-old daughter, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Brooke, and a small home on the prairie about a 30-minute walk into town. His guns have been in storage for many years.

Everything changes after a band of four outlaws visit his home while he and the daughter are in town. His rage resurfaces and the rest of the movie is a manhunt.

This isn't a novel story, similar old west stories have been told in movies a number of times. But the actors are good. The script doesn't have a real good feel to it, but taken as entertainment of the revenge kind it is worthwhile. The source of the movie's name isn't revealed until near the end, when one says "Let's settle this the old way, in the street with guns."

My wife and i watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Well I would have to say that I did find this movie entertaining. Nicholas Cage was fun to watch, I think he did a good job playing the character that was called for, but the real revelation of the film was Ryan Keira Armstrong. I'd never seen her before and she was absolutely astonishing, as his daughter. She was a really fun character to watch and she really played it the character to the hilt. Gritty, self assured and believable. So many comic book characters these days, that just feel like they're written from cardboard, and it is so refreshing to see a character truly written well. She was truly convincing, and as an actress, she really has a future.