For the press run that Peter went on to sell this thing, I was expecting more. I love Juliette Lewis (The Other Sister, From Dusk 'Till Dawn) and she basically carries the entire film. In my opinion, Peter Dinklage gives an unmemorable performance here yet shines in comparison to the rest of the somewhat unknown cast.
As far as Tubi movies go, this is a decent watch. I just felt like there was something missing. As far as westerns go, this one just doesn't feel like it has a lot of grit. I remember watching an interview with Peter where he recalls one of the producers wanting a character in the film to have a "James Hetfield" look (lead singer of Metallica, for those who don't know) and Peter suggested that they just get James Hetfield to do the movie. Well, there is probably a reason why they suggested a professionally trained actor who looks like Hetfield, rather than Hetfield himself. He does an okay job, even kind of bad at times.
I don't want to get political with this review, but I feel like this needs to be addressed. I understand that every movie can't be Django Unchained. I also understand that life imitates art and visa versa, and we are trying to create a better world here. But there is something inside of me that is crying out every time I watch a period piece made in modern times. It seems like Hollywood is desperately trying to rewrite history to make America's past seem way less racist and horrible than it is. This is a pretty good example of that. There is ZERO racial tension in the film, despite the fact that two out of the five characters are African American who go up against some of the frontier's nastiest outlaws. To my knowledge it isn't even mentioned and I didn't know that Reginald's (Dinklage) counterpart Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe) is an ex-slave until I read that in the film's description. No one else in the film mentions it at all. It's not a huge issue, it just feels kind of disrespectful to the people in that time who suffered the horrible atrocities of slavery. I just really don't like the white washing of American history. Sorry, rant over.
Another part of this movie that I didn't enjoy is seeing Andrew Schulz in the film. I don't like this man's comedy, I don't care for his podcast, and I think that he does a middling job here. He also sports the exact same haircut and mustache that we see in modern times which feels out of place. I remember a golden age of film where truly talented actors was enough to get people to see your film. Now we're at a point where we are relying on YouTube stars to get people to watch. It makes me kind of sad honestly.
I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. The cinematography is pretty good, despite the fact they use plenty of cheat codes (filming a western and using a winter backdrop, for example). I saw this for free so I guess beggar's can't be choosers, but I found this film to be average at best.
