The Mountie

Andrew Walker rides into the camp in the Yukon, wearing his red coat and leather hat. He's there to take a look for where the Northwest Mounted Police intend to build a fort. To the west are a motley mix of Russian and Americans. Here, there's only tents, a church being built, and Latvians. Of course, they're looking for gold, and not particular about how they get it; if they have to torture a successful placer for the location of his find, that's all right with them, especially the priest. In the meantime, they raise opium poppies for cash.

All legends can use correction to bring them back to reality, and this movie tries to do so, with children reciting Robert W. Service poem in sing-song, a camera which shows the Yukon as lovely in long shot, but ugly in close-up, and a hero who massacred a large number of Cree Indians. That's civilization for you. Even so, it's better than what it replaces. It tries to protect women and children, and the legend is still there, with a shoot-out between two disgraced Mounties and a bunch of savage Latvian men.

The movie starts out slow. A lot of movies do that, so an increasing pace of editing and action can build from suspense to release. Unfortunately, this one never speeds up much.

My love of westerns, and being Canadian, are likely influencing my opinion of this film. Also known as The Way of the West, The Mountie contains a few flaws and some poor make-up but, overall, I enjoyed it. I found this film refreshing because of the Canadian content and the appearance of the red serge wearing Wade Grayling (Andrew Walker), a Member of the Northwest Mounted Police. I especially loved the unique behaviour of Wade's horse, Halifax, during one scene (I'm trying not to give it away). As westerns go, I found this particular scene new and, as a result, fun. On a negative note, I hate when Wade, knowing he is in danger, doesn't behave as so. After being caught one time without his revolver, you'd think the Mountie would adjust his level of officer safety? Oh well, just let it go. As a matter of fact, if you can let a few things go, you may appreciate this film as well. Especially if you're Canadian.

I have to admit that the alternate (USA DVD) title "The way of the west" doesn't speak to the movies content. I am certain the only reason they created an alternate title for USA distribution is because "The Mountie" or "Way of the Yukon" or some similarly Canadian title would have little meaning or frame of reference for American viewers. Having said that, I can see how it being in IMDb's category Westerns could be a bit misleading and probably why other reviewers were disappointed. I wouldn't really drop it into the drama category either.

The cinematography is predictably well done, and given the raw nature of the Canadian Territories there are some great backgrounds. I agree that the lead actor (Walker) really does lay on the Clint Eastwood a bit thick. And unnecessarily so. he could have pulled off the role just as easily and likely more believably in a less strained manner.

As for continuity, I had no problems following the story line. I might question the historical accuracy of opium cultivation (which seems to be implied) in the Yukon, but there definitely was an opium trade. One also has to take into account that the story basically takes place in the middle of nowhere so character interaction is limited to the few people in the camp (its not a town).

I found the writing competent and the story engaging. I often shy away from Canadian movies due to their track record in terms of quality, but I didn't find The Mountie disappointing. It not a masterpiece either, but it is entertaining. The cast was well placed and the performances believable. Some familiar faces with Jessica Pare (who was awesome in "Suck"), Pastko and Buza.

All in all its worth the rental fee, I won't be adding it to my DVD collection, but it was enjoyable enough for me. I give it a 6/10. Just don't expect "Hang "em high".

I suppose this movie was made for television. And even for television it is not good enough. It starts okay but the further you get into the story the clearly it becomes that this is a mediocre movie. The last half hour is even disastrous to me. The script is not good at all, the actors are mediocre, their lines are so cheesy you wonder who comes up with something like that. The only good thing about this movie is some nature landscape shots. For the rest I would avoid this as the pest. The good reviews it gets on here are clearly written by people that had something to do with the movie. And those reviewers will fool you. They prefer lying then telling you they failed. Don't waste your time with this one.

What? You know that something went wrong in marketing a movie if it has 3 titles on an internet search. The Mountie, the Lawman, Way of the West. Perhaps the first is the best.. but there goes any chance of a US audience. Maybe it would have been better to keep that title and market it with subtitles to a world audience.

Comments from others indicate they were expecting an American Western which it is not. Some can't get the mix of cultures. Well, the film is set shortly after Alaska was acquired from Russia; and guess what- the land was sparsely populated. FYI Yukon almost 150 years on still has a total population under 40,000 in a land area approaching that of Texas.

Awful poetry read by a child? Well, the words are those of Robert Service, the unofficial poet of historical Yukon. If I had expected a "Western" I would have been disappointed. But thankfully I had a review from The Toronto Globe and Mail appear thanks to Google which was intriguing. Google it under "The Mountie".

Looking for an "operatic" theme movie more in the tradition of Quebec cinema. This is it.