Among Wolves

"Among Wolves" is a low budget movie, with no famous stars, but a VERY good script, and VERY good "unknown" actors. The only reason I did not give it 10 stars is that the plot is a bit implausible. But if you accept the unusual situation, and the unusual motivations that the main characters have, it all makes perfect sense. Extremely violent, but not the stupid and completely senseless violence you see in so many movies. The most dangerous killers in this movie act like real killers: they don't talk much, but when they do talk, you should listen carefully. This is a movie about an era and a place (the "old west") when a code of personal honor was more common (and stronger) than it is today. It is a "guy" movie that women can watch without being totally grossed out. It is violent but the situation demands that, and the women characters in this movie are very strong, and in my (male) opinion, I think they are good role models for young women and girls today. We now live in moderately violent times that are going to get much worse in the near future due to the imminent climate change crisis and the social and political upheavals it will cause. This movie will get you talking to your friends and lover(s) about when violence is a necessary evil, and that is very unusual in most of today's movies. "Open Range" was like that, by the way. If you haven't seen it, you should. Finally I do not recommend "Among Wolves" or "Open Range" for young children, or even for older minors or adults, male or female, who are very sensitive to violence.

I was nervous about this film in the beginning. It looked low budget and the dialogue was not great. The two female characters were unimaginative and James Russo was playing to type. Tom Berenger could not save the beginning of this film. About 20 minutes into the film we are introduced to Michael and Angel. That is when the movie becomes interesting. Trace Adkins and Jeff Fahey play these roles low key. I truly enjoyed Jeff Fahey playing against type. The characters go on a journey and there is a twist. This movie is not a great western, but it is definitely better than most of the low rent, direct to DVD westerns. Watch with low expectations, get past the first 20 minutes, and enjoy.

The writer of this film needs to stop.... NOW! The dialogue is some of the worst ever captured on any media.

The main character has so many speeches with ridiculous words for the era and coming from an uneducated cowboy makes it hard to watch.

The acting going from emotion to emotion with no stops in between.

In one minute two women are speaking to one another like they are in church and in the next breath they are crying about nothing.

Bullets with no primers, clocks that don't run, one guy killing four bad guys while his partner stands and watches.

Hard to watch. Truly sad for the actors. To the writer.... PLEASE STOP.

Should I start with the camera work, production design, direction or the dialogue? Sometimes it's really painful to see decent actors in their twilight.

The camera and lighting are lacking. Looks like DSLR footage. Movies set in the old west don't have old props. Everything would be relatively new. This looks like it was decorated out of someone's grandmother's basement. I guess I shouldn't blame the bad acting on the director, but he allowed the overacting. As for the dialogue, it was clunky and awkward, at best.

I was going to give it three stars, just for the casting of Jeff Fahey, but had to take away one for Tom Berenger.

Hey, at the end of the day, Lee got his film made.

This film had all the makings of a good western. It had the phenomenal Forrie J. Smith who bring authenticity to any western. It was also shot on location at the famous Old Tucson Studios and its brilliant landscapes, towering jagged mountains and western sets. But unfortunately, the director wasn't very good at taking advantage of that location with bad angles, bad camerawork. And probably worse of all...Trace Adkins just can't hold a movie as the title character, or the script was so bad he couldn't breathe life into it. Just an unfortunate blending of a poor script and B-rated actors in a gorgeous location.