Gone Are the Days

I really wanted to like this movie. Henriksen & Berenger give very good, solid performances. However, aside from a very brief appearance by Danny Trejo, most of the other actors seem to be on loan from the Eldorado school of bad acting. The story is a good old fashioned, slow burning western. But the supporting characters, more so than the leads, just seemed so clichéd (it might have been the bad acting, but I think even good actors wouldn't have helped their roles.) None of the scenes 'in town' or on the train near the end - just nothing seemed authentic. It's a shame because I suspect with more competent direction, a better supporting cast and cinematographer, this actually could have been a great film and character study.

Despite having (the always endearingly odd) Steve Railsback and Tom Berenger in supports, Danny Trejo in a cameo the whole show here is Lance Henriksen.

He is a wonderfully convincing as a former bad man, dying of natural causes and unhappy with who he has become physically and, perhaps, mentally. His solution is to exit life in a blaze of glory whilst confronting personal demons and righting past wrongs. Along the way he is joined by the ghost of a colleague and, what seems to be, Death. Cheery this isn't.

The photography is of the modern realism school (perhaps also because of the low budget) and the supporting characters aren't fleshed out. The films starts slow and is short on action but it is a "slow burn" with elegiac asides. It comes across as a cross between the masterful "The Shootist" (1976) and (the somewhat overrated but much loved) "Unforgiven" (1992).

Not magnificent but definitely one for lovers of westerns, who are familiar with the genres tropes or for lovers of Lance Henriksen, of which there should be more.

You'll need patience to get rewards out of this very slow burn Western, as it won't appeal to everyone. Lance Henriksen and Tom Berenger lead the way here. Henriksen portraying the former bank robber Taylon, now aged and dying but looking to pull off one final heist so he can give the money to his daughter (Meg Steedle). Berenger plays the former Texas Ranger Will McMullen, who is now the eccentric sheriff of the town of Durango, where Taylon's bank target is.

In my opinion, too much emphasis on Taylon's deteriorating health and some unexplained plot elements mar the movie somewhat. But if you're the type of viewer that doesn't mind a slowly developing story, there are rewards here in the believable performances and even some dry humor adding well to the mix.

I watched the first part last night and decided to go to bed, see if the next half got any better tonight. This is not slow moving it's slovenly to the point of tedium. I've watched over half of it now and still don't know what it's about. Who are these characters, what's the story about, when I don't know, I don't care. Have a general idea now that it's about the woman hanging from a tree and the sheriff, along with a possible outlaw gang. Don't understand the Virgil or river man parts, unless it's taking an eternity to build up to good versus bad. If you have the patience of an angel, it might be good.Personally I wished I'd watched the good, the bad and the ugly yet again.

Lance Henriksen did an OUTSTANDING and Oscar worthy performance in this slow burn character driven movie. I agree with some of the other critiques that too much time and emphasis was spent on the characters deteriorating health (in the beginning of the movie) but other than that I can't find another fault in this GEM of a movie. Every single actor brought their A game.....The direction was spot on. The setting and costumes were genuine and the camera and lighting were done superbly. The score was appropriate and added to the scenes wonderfully. I bawled at the end.....and I loved it.