The Decoy

I've seen a preview of this Western. It is definitely a low budget effort - but made with a lot of heart. First off and worthy of immediate mention are the locations. This looks and feels like a Western. The acting is better than average at this level and I really liked the guy who played Martin. What perhaps could be improved with this picture is the work in post. The editing could be a big sharper, the sound mix and little richer and some more compositing and filtering could really bring to life some excellent shots. But what of the story? Actually the underlying plot is quite good. A mute man is framed as a 'decoy' to take the heat for a murder - all to cover up a bank robbery. His friend the sheriff must then escort him to the hanging. But the film is a little bit slow in getting going. I'd have preferred it if it had featured more of this journey and beefed up the conflict between this two friends / adversaries. Even if this meant we saw some of the preamble in flashback. All in all - I'll be checking out other films from these guys as this first feature shows promise and grit.

I don't normally review movies but after reading the previous review I felt I owed it to the makers of this film.

I saw this movie on opening weekend at the fox theater. I'm not an avid Western watcher, but an avid movie watcher and a fan of the theater going experience. I can't say this is the best movie I've ever seen, but I could have told u that before buying the tickets. I knew I was going to see a first effort. In my opinion after viewing the film, I can say they are on the start of a very promising career. I can't comment on budgets, film stock, or over promotion. (I saw one poster at a local rental store). I can just comment on what I liked.

I will agree completely with the first review (tim). The film has first attempt written all over it...because it was a first attempt. With that in mind you have to look over that and review it more broadly. Over all the only problem I had with this film is that it kinda dragged in the beginning, getting the story started. I agree with Tim that more time should have been spent on the journey. My favorite part of this film was the scenery. Being a resident of Southern Arizona I felt that they captured the look and feel of the beautiful southern Arizona desert, and the different landscapes that it has. Overall I was happy with the movie I saw and would recommend it to any resident of the desert or fan of good ol' western.

THE DECOY is one of those independent productions, made by obvious newcomers, but it doesn't have all the usual flaws that sink most such films. It has a definite story, it has adequate acting, the photography is very good, the hero and the bad guy are both formidable men, and the background music isn't overdone. This is a DVD New Release, so people will be looking here to see if it's worthwhile. I don't know where all the 10's come from, as there's no way this film is that good --- even if you're the filmmaker's mother.

The last film we saw at a theater was Warner's trashing of J K Rawlings much-loved and excellent book, Order of the Phoenix. In comparing THE DECOY with PHOENIX, consider that PHOENIX (as made by Warners) had no story, certainly no acting was allowed by the director, the photography was dreadful, and the wall-of-sound overbearing musical score was just a mess. I rated Phoenix a "1" because the scale doesn't go any lower. THE DECOY is 4 times better -- in all regards.

If you have the opportunity, give THE DECOY a chance. Remember, this isn't "Decoy 3 -- the Shootout" or any such nonsense. It's original. If your expectations aren't overblown by the foolish "10" scores here, you might just enjoy the film on its own terms.

When his in-laws are viciously murdered by a gang of thugs, a young deputy is ordered to escort his mute friend, forced to take the rap by the gang, to Tucson for trial and ending up having to face the real killers along the way.

The Decoy is a real-life decoy sent to video stores to lure you away from better films! It's talky, illogical, slow, and ultimately very boring.

There's some good costumes, sets, and photography but nothing else is good about this vanity project from writer/director/producer/star Justin Kreinbrink, who apparently had too much money on his hands.

They used to make westerns like this, that were under an hour long. Trim this of about half it's length and you might have something watchable.

Orphaned at a young age, "Martin Lowery" (Kevin Market) is taken in by a married couple and raised as one of their own. And even though he is mute, as he grows older and becomes a man, Martin becomes one of the most likeable people in his small town because he is so kind and meek. The townspeople turn on him, however, when he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of those same two people who initially treated him with such kindness. This includes a deputy by the name of "John Cooper" (Justin Kreinbrink) who is not only in love with the daughter of the two people Martin supposedly murdered but was also Martin's best friend. So, when Deputy Cooper is ordered to personally escort Martin to Tucson to be tried and hung, he struggles with the decision to simply kill him along the way instead. But what nobody realizes, however, is that Martin knows who the actual murderers really are but refuses to disclose that information--and the killers are not willing to have either Deputy Cooper or Martin make it to Tucson alive. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this low-budget film started off relatively well but the overall reason for Martin to keep everything secret was a bit of a stretch considering that he had plenty of opportunities set things right with little danger to anyone but the real murderers. Likewise, the ending was a bit too convenient as well. In any case, while I don't consider this film to be a complete waste of time, the low-budget aspects were much too obvious, and I have rated this project accordingly. Below average.