Caminho Selvagem

Rate this Western film as terrible! It is a "B" movie at best. The storyline is just moronic. The flashback which comes too late in the film attempts to bring this confusing tale together. What was James Crowley, (writer and director) thinking about? What's the point of having one of the characters being a transvestite? The story jumps thirteen years with no explanation of how the characters developed into what they are. James Crowley never gives an explanation as to why the main character (Morphinist) became a cold-blooded killer. What is the purpose of the character role that Dash Mihok plays as the double-crossed bank robber, and why is it important in this film? You can drive a Mack truck through the gaps of continuity in this film. Crowley had better try his hand at something else. Westerns are definitely not his genre. Boring would be the best way to describe this mess. The feeling you get after watching this movie is: …why did I sit through this? Trust me, just skip this one.

Some good ideas and a pretty impressive score made this a movie I didn't mind sitting through late one night when it came on the Westerns channel.

Problems include an entirely passive "hero" who does absolutely nothing (in fact only the villain does anything, really), and some characters who are introduced only to be forgotten. But Barry Corbin is a beloved character actor, and I found Dash Mihok relatively charismatic in his role as a double-crossed, repentant bank robber. Daniel Lapaine, as the protagonist (I guess), is pretty much a cold fish, and sticking out like he does is no easy task with some of the other awkward actors put to work in this movie. Any energy the movie has comes from Brad Hunt as the pseudo-antagonist and, to a lesser extent, the aforementioned Dash Mihok and Barry Corbin. Willie Nelson's presence on the bill made me wary initially, but he has a very small, brief role, for which I'm grateful (I love Willie as much as the next Texan, but his presence only ever serves to take me out of a movie).

The score had a cool 1970s horror feel to it, and the idea of a morphine addicted outlaw is pretty fresh. Unfortunately the movie forgets to have a second and third act, the entire movie being a fairly linear chase with plenty of sub-plots (and potential sub-plots) not paying off one bit. However, with the drought of modern westerns stretching on, beggars can't be choosers, wasted potential or not. Now if only I could find that neato score...

If you like westerns I would give this one a go on a Sunday afternoon with nothing better to do.

At points over acted, and quite cheesy, it grinds along without much character development. This point makes me kinda sad, because there are some very interesting characters that would draw you in if you simply knew more about them. The story itself isn't really that original, but what do you expect in this genre.

Not even in the top 200 westerns of all time :) but it is good enough to fill that "I wanna watch a new western" itch if you haven't seen it yet. Only for western superfans.

Overall I say 4/10.

This is a vastly underrated film. The storyline and the location shots in Texas are excellent, and I think Brad Hunt makes one of the most sinister villains I've ever seen in a Western.

Watched it at least a half dozen times....

Despite his horrible actions, you can't help but feel sorry for The Morphinist and find yourself pulling for him in the final scene. It's easy to see how such people are created or made in society, molded by the things that happen to them in their youth.

If you like old spaghetti westerns, you'll like this. Many of the scenes remind me of A Few Dollars More or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

This was a very good film. It is very direct and straight forward with its editing and continuity as well as its haunting sense of realism. The period styling is very gritty and yet also very colorful (many Westerns filmmakers seem to think that there was nothing but washed out colors in the late 1800s). The two main characters are The Morphinist and The Journeyman--two brothers separated at an early age. They meet once again at the climax, which is a well choreographed shoot-out in a graveyard. The drug addicted cowboy, The Morphinist, has some very cool lines such as: "People always remember evil long after they've forgotten good." The character of Walter P. Higgs III is very interesting and (for me) very funny. Walter is sad when Frank the Thief dies (betrayed by the Morphainist), and he is redeemed by the end of the film. I found myself rooting for Walter all throughout the film. The path of death that the Morphinist leaves in his drug induced wake makes him seem unredeemable, but when he weakly grasps the crucifix that the Journeyman places in his near dead hands at the end of the film we know that he too has suffered and needs compassion. But, only his brother could save him, or redeem him. This is among the best Westerns of the past ten years, and certainly ranks up there with Wild Bill, Tombstone, and Unforgiven.