Good for Nothing

Good For Nothing stands out as one of the most enjoyable Westerns from the past thirty years. In tone and spirit its close to the classic Sergio Leone-Clint Eastwood Spaghetti westerns. Director/Writer Mike Wallis has done a great job staying true to the genre while delivering an entertaining story full of unique twists to all of the classic scenes. Cohen Holloway plays the classic western anti-hero perfectly, with the added problem of dealing with erectile dysfunction - well his character anyway. Inge Rademeyer breaks the mold of the 'damsel in distress', bringing a complexity and substance with her performance to a role that traditionally has little to offer. Her and the director have built the role into a real-world character. Western fans should definitely seek this one out, its well worth it.

Saw this the other night and thought that it was a great adventurous romp that caught my attention throughout. An amazing score and the beauty of the New Zealand landscape help to give it an epic feel. The theme song has been in my head for days.

The man, played by New Zealand Actor Cohen Holloway, gave a great almost silent performance and is also darkly comic. It's pretty much a classic western but it has one major plot point at the heart that questions what it is to be a man, that makes this movie unique.

If you like a good well contained and fun story, then go see this.

That's my 2 cents!

Isabella and Miss Parsons (am I remembering that right? There's no name even similar to that in the cast list) are two proper English ladies traveling through the American West on a train with a great-looking and great-sounding steam engine.

When the villain ties Isabella up, he goes into town and what happens next is very funny. And then Isabella gets loose, and with her clothes in tatters, people in town think she is a hooker. She goes to jail and the prisoner in the cell is hilarious. I only wish we had seen more of him.

The villain visits a Chinese mining camp. With hilarious results. Meanwhile, Isabella and the man visit an Indian medicine man--again, with funny results. The posse isn't having much luck because the tracker is incompetent.

The ending is satisfying but quite unexpected. It is, in fact, the very definition of ironic. But there is a complete story.

I wasn't expecting this to be so funny, but the TiVo listings did show it as a comedy first. Actually, this isn't that funny a lot of the time, and it is somewhat violent (though not unusually so for a Western) and unsettling. To enjoy it, you have to be willing to tolerate a sick sense of humor. Also, the sound went out a lot and characters' mouths were covered in many cases when this happened.

Cohen Holloway as the unnamed villain does quite a good job. He isn't merely the monster he appears to be at the start, but someone who has feelings. Just because he shoots everyone in sight doesn't mean he can't be redeemed.

Isabella is quite pretty and, despite her shock at how different the American West is after apparently having a privileged life, she is tough and determined. And even caring, despite how mean her kidnapper has been.

Other good performances come from actors playing Indians and Chinese.

And let's not forget how pretty the American West can be. Even if it's actually New Zealand. And the music is great--Latin guitar, regular guitar (not smooth jazz exactly, but close), and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

It's an unusual Western to be sure, and worth seeing.

I've never been big on Western movies but Good for Nothing was surprisingly entertaining. In most Westerns I've seen there are often long drawn out pan out shots of bare land and dull dialogue, however Good for Nothing has witty and sometimes sarcastic dialogue between the characters and a simple plot that juxtaposes the type of lifestyle that was shared during western times. Perhaps the must unique factor that I found out about this movie after I watched it was the fact that its the first Pavlova Western the world has ever seen, meaning it was inspired by spaghetti western movies yet it was filmed in New Zealand. I'm planning on grabbing a copy of it when it comes out in DVD it was that good.

Saw this movie and thought it was fantastic. Just not your ordinary western but a realistic look at some of the trappings of living in the "old west". If you are into movies...particularly westerns you will love this movie. The scene with the Indian store keeper shooting arrows at our hero is all too real. The scenery and the locale is part of this wonderful movie. The heroine was low key and for her first movie she did a good job. I had to look up everyone involved with the making of this movies so to see the hands behind a work of art. I highly recommend it. Make sure you see it with some one who enjoys these new realistic look at the west. Not some Hollywood set but out in the open wilderness.