Criminosos e Anjos

It's certainly not for everyone.

Low budget, bloody, dark, and disturbing. Although, the blood was exaggerated and cartoonish like a comic book movie.

The costumes were dirty and and lived in. The houses/sets looked like real shacks. Everybody and everything looked legitimately dusty, sweaty, and lived in. Living in the Southwest you get to realizing that nothing is ever clean.

The blood might put off some older folks, but I think that this is pretty normal for an independent film in our post Terintino, made-for-cable world.

The cinematography was surprisingly good. The editing was tight. Well directed, edited, and acted.

There were even a couple pretty songs. I kinda wish that they had leaned in to that a little more, but that might have made it too cheesy, so maybe not.

Sort of a modern Treasure of Sierra Modre. The literal bloody money bags were almost too heavy handed.

Also, that's Clint Eastwood's real life granddaughter as the main young woman. Her mother (his daughter) was even in it (but not as her mother).

JT Mollner musta honed his writer / director skills in the eight years tween his 2016 debut "Outlaws And Angels" and his follow-up "Strange Darling", as the latter thriller rocks, but the former western is flawed & overlong. In 1887 New Mexico, Chad Michael Murray's violent bank robbing gang (inc Keith Loneker & Steven Michael Quezada) evade lawman Luke Wilson (solid) by holding up in the remote homestead of Ben Browder, Teri Polo and their teenage girls Francesca Eastwood (good) & Madisen Beaty... where tones & elements of "The Beguiled" & "Deliverance" unfold, tho way too sluggishly. It carries Mollner's distinctive style ok, but "Strange Darling" it ain't.

The present movie is the final elaboration of a shorter piece called 'Henry John and the Little Bug', released about seven years ago by the same Author, JT Mollner, a peculiar kind of film maker.

The final full-length result is peculiar too, but very well acted and very well written. It deals with miserable beings living miserable lives and is a paradigmatic story of how misery, love and egoism can bring anyone to perdition, given the wrong circumstances.

There isn't much pity in Author's heart for his own characters and not many of them will make it through the end. But there is love, as in any great artist's eye, even though of a strange and desperate sort.

This film follows a group of bank robbers, a posse chasing them and a family whose home the robbers invade.

Without giving spoilers, this has a decent story to it but you need to be a real trooper to make it to the end. The pace of this is painfully slow. I don't know, maybe the slow pace is meant to convey a psychological theme. It didn't work for me though because even if that was the case, it still could've moved along better. I liked the story and hated the pace.

LJ'S QUICK MOVIE REVIEW:

"Outlaws and Angels", directed by JT Mollner, is a Western that takes place in the unforgiving American frontier. It follows the story of three wanted bank robbers that take refuge in a troubled family's home.

The movie's script features violence, crime, love, and revenge. As the movie progresses, the seemingly ordinary characters reveal darker and freakish sides to their lives. Emphasis is put on cynicism, human fears, and role of women in Western society. However, several characters never get the screen time they deserve. Their transformations often feel rushed and awkward.

Visually, the movie captures the essence of a Western. The colors and tone used in the film make for a very immersive experience. The movie is also shot using 35mm film, which adds to the gritty and grainy feel. Clearly, a great deal of effort was put into the detailed set-pieces, costumes, and makeup.

Overall, "Outlaws and Angels" is a movie with intriguing characters and high-quality visuals, but the flaws in its script and editing slightly compromise the experience.

LJ's Grade: C , 6.4/10

To be honest, Django Unchained and the Hateful Eight are better Westerns and were both released recently.

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