Sweetwater

SWEETWATER is a nicely-done noirish parody of the old spaghetti western. Plot-wise, it's rather predictable, without many big surprises, but it keeps your attention and incorporates steady humor without turning into a complete slapstick joke. Best of all are the very colorful cast of characters: Crazy charlatan cult leader; beautiful, now-married former prostitute who's out to settle down and lead a quiet, simple life; unstable yet nobly maverick sheriff; perverted clothier; and a whole bunch of sheep who contribute a great deal to the story (really, they do).

Intelligently simple entertainment--nothing to be taken too seriously. Great performances by Ed Harris (sheriff) and January Jones (former prostitute).

This western is good because it has simple details of everyday menial experiences brought into magnified observation like the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarentino incorporate into their films that people personally identify with. Very good writing and directing. The character behavior is realistic for the period with a unique cast of established actors that have a track record of rolls in unusual movies similar to No Country for Old Men. January Jones, Ed Harris, and Mr. Root, the judge, from Justified, add the quirky features you will find worth your time. This is a no-nonsense simple story of detective work with refreshing deviance from stupid Hollywood fare.

when you watched this film. there were many gibberish mambo-jumbo religious crappy monologue or crazy enough talk-to-himself murmurings. and the directing was also quite weird as the film itself. there was an usual cunning vicious and violent religious bully who thought all the vast land was his lord and his own property. he committed murder after murder under the name and excuse of the lord and at the same time whenever he reached the climax when he screwed his female followers, he also praised the lord for his ultimate pleasure(guess why all the men and women would cry out in unison 'oh, my god, oh my god' is indeed a Christian mantra during intercourse or love-making?)

this is a very weird movie, an out-of-the-box very unconventional western, at times funny and ruthless, sometimes clueless and ridiculous. but what made this film above the cheap low budget western genre B movies was 1) most of the actors did great jobs and performed so well that didn't give you a cheap feeling of the average tasteless low budget and disgusting modern day western B movies; 2) the great cinematography of the camera, the wide angle wildness of the landscape, the beautiful light setting control. just by watching the glamorous camera works would worth the money and earned at least 8 stars; 3) although the screenplay was a bit over the top ridiculous, but still quite watchable, good enough to anchor your fat buttocks firmly on the seat to the end. again, a weird mindless clueless absurdity sometimes is not a bad idea.

Interesting script, sharp, well written dialog. Several subtle "funnies" along the way. Such a delightful departure from his "norm" and excellent performance by Ed Harris. I liked this dandy Colombo with a harmlessly psychotic twist. Amy Madigan almost stole the show with one short scene, played with so few words, very, very well. Some of the sharp dialog could have been delivered better by January Jones, Bless her heart, but a lead role like this can be exhausting, I'm sure. Hope she grows into them, though, because she was easy to watch. A cast of characters keeps things interesting, And one is always watching for twists and turns. Would have been interesting to discover her situation in the end. Seemed to end somewhat abruptly without closer in that area.

The plot: A psychotic preacher goes too far when he begins indiscriminately murdering innocent people. A manic sheriff and gun-toting ex-prostitute team up to stop him and his followers.

I liked this film, but it's really quite shallow. If you can enjoy a minimalist, high-concept revenge thriller, this is actually pretty enjoyable. Just don't look for anything more than violent action scenes, despicable villains, and violent anti-heroes who would make Clint Eastwood proud.

As I expected, Ed Harris is the highlight of this film. His crazy sheriff is unpredictable, darkly humorous, and fun. The little bits of back story that we were fed make him intriguing, but it's a bit unfortunate that they never capitalized on any of it. I thought that maybe there'd be plot twists and complicated alliances, like a Sergio Leone film, but I guess this isn't that kind of film. No, it's basically a beat-em-up video game where the hero kills all the villain's henchmen and then does a boss fight.

There are quite a few postmodern touches to the film that may annoy old-school Western fans. For one thing, this a modern revenge thriller that's been transposed into a Western setting. As such, I don't think this was really meant to appeal to fans of classic Westerns. Instead, it's going for the Quentin Tarantino crowd, though it could have used more style and quotable dialog. For a poor man's QT film, this is not bad, but I'd recommend the real thing instead.