O Purgatório

This is pretty much a pleasant - albeit unspectacular - film. It is very watchable with a predictable fantasy theme running through it.

The theme of people realising that they are at some sort of halfway house between Heaven and Hell, awaiting divine judgement, is not new and has been well portrayed in earlier films. This film however, reworks the formula in a western setting. It is certainly watchable and is quite well made for a TV movie.

This film starts out with a band of desperadoes led by "Blackjack Britton" (Eric Roberts) who decide to rob the bank in a town called "Sweetwater". What they don't anticipate is that while they are robbing the bank the U.S. Cavalry happens to also ride into town. A gunfight ensues and the bandits hightail it out of town as fast as they can with a large posse chasing after them. The further they ride the more desperate they become and eventually lose all of the money they had stolen. Then they encounter a dust storm and when they finally ride through it they come upon a town called "Refuge" which is well off the beaten path. At first they decide to keep a low profile but then they notice that nobody in the town is armed. Not content with simply accepting the town's hospitality they soon decide to force themselves upon it. But what they don't realize is that this is no ordinary town. And the townsfolk are not run-of-the-mill people either. Anyway, rather than disclosing the mystery of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this is not an ordinary western. The acting is decent and Amelia Heinie (as "Rose") certainly lent some nice scenery. But what made this film so unusual was the unique storyline which was quite intriguing. All things considered then, although the end was somewhat predictable the movie managed to keep my attention for the most part and I rate it as slightly better than average.

This was a really satisfying story with great performances from the actors, even Eric Roberts who usually annoys me.

The basic story is that a band of outlaws heading for Mexico get waylaid in a town called refuge where no pone carries a gun and everyone welcomes them with open arms. But like the rattlesnakes they are, instead of accepting and appreciating this hospitality the outlaws decide to take the town for all it's worth not realising exactly what kind of place they have ridden into.

This film is exactly the type of thing you get when an interesting premise is properly executed. A real treat that I only found by accident on late night TV!

When I was going to see this film, I feared a little bit that this would have too much of a western atmosphere. I decided to watch this because the story seemed very interesting. Director Uli Edel did a very good job directing this. Although this is a TV-movie, and I assume the budget wasn't that big, Uli Edel made a very impressive film. I enjoyed this film a lot. Also the acting was very good. The music is excellent. I recommend this film to everyone. Also to people who generally don't like westerns. This is an amazing film, with excellent acting, beautiful cinematography, beautiful music and a great, touching story! Don't miss this film, it's beautiful!

Purgatory is a conscience western you can compare to 'Unforgiven', or more likely 'Pale Rider.' It seems adapted from a scifi short story, meaning it is not dominated by its wild west setting.

Someone at TNT Originals has a great skill for making movies for the small screen. They can port a plot from the big screen and scale it down to the small screen. They reduce it from "larger than life" size to "life" size. That's what you get with this movie 'Purgatory.' It's a TV movie with characters that are serious but not ridiculous, a pace that's neither too fast nor too slow, a soundtrack that unique but not overbearing, and is a story that is epic but understated. This movie is a rare gem in TV viewing: something that makes you feel good about watching TV.