User reviews

Linda Fiorentina develops from sexy seductress in The Last Seduction into a merciless killer in this effort, and it's a world away from Jessie the happy cowgirl from the Toy Story films. She'll blast your brains out without so much of a second glance, and she wears them Western clothes like she was born in the outfit. Partnering with a smart mouthed confidence trickster, she's on the run from the always excellent Sam Elliott, who plays a grizzled old sheriff. She committed the unpardonable sin of killing his son (Who she was married to, and he knocked seven bells out of her, hence the reason for her slaying him) so needless to say, this lawman is slightly more persistent in pursuing his target than most...

There are no signs of this being a straight to video effort, as the productions values are decent throughout. There are also some well staged and fast moving shootouts, but in terms of gore this ain't no The Wild Bunch, so the 18 certificate is a bit of a mystery. Like the film I last watched, The Kentuckian, this is hardly going to go down in history as one of the genre classics. But it'll pass 85 minutes, and you won't feel you've wasted your time. Which is good enough for me. 6/10

"The Desperate Trail" is an R-rated straight-to-video Western from 1995 starring Sam Elliott as Marshal Bill Speakes; he wants to bring to the gallows his daughter-in-law, Sarah (Linda Fiorentino), who murdered his son but is blinded to her defense of spousal abuse. In her run from the law Sarah hooks up with a charming conman, Jack Cooper (Craig Sheffer).

***Mild SPOILERS follow*** (although I don't give away the ending)

POSITIVES:

• I liked the ominous "church bells" soundtrack. It's simple and unique but I didn't find it jarringly incongruous to the Western genre as some apparently did.

• The first act was the best, but the rest of the film was still pretty good. It's a solid Western with a lot of drive and Peckinpah-like gunfights.

• What I liked most was the thought-provoking elements of the story. One theme is the evil of spousal abuse. Not just in reference to what drove Sarah to this "desperate trail," but the guy she pistol-whips for giving his wife a black eye (the wife ultimately leaves him and even Marshal Speakes admits the man deserved it).

• Another theme is the corrupting power of the "Eli Syndrome." Eli was a legitimate chief priest in the Old Testament who spoiled his sons and allowed them to run amok, carnally speaking, in their temple service, which ultimately brought God's judgment and their deaths (1 Samuel 2 & 4). Just so, Bill Speakes was obviously a solid citizen, successful cattle rancher and marshal who spoiled his son. His kin-bias wouldn't allow him to see the other side of the story; it blinded him. Although he WAS a good man and in some ways even a great man this bias was his weakness and successfully corrupted him.

• Another theme is desperation. The film's called "The DESPERATE Trail" for a reason. Sarah was on her way to the gallows and would need the stagecoach money to make a successful escape to freedom. Women had few options outside of marriage or prostitution out West back then; how much more so if you're a wanted fugitive? She was desperate, pure and simple. The guy she pistol-whips deserved it. Sarah didn't try to steal money from the members of the stage so she wasn't a "stage robber" in the conventional sense nor did she rob stages throughout the rest of the film, i.e. for a living; it was a one-time thing. Although she does rob a store for needed supplies, but --again -- she was desperate.

As far as her being the heroine and Jack Cooper the hero, in the sense of Bonnie & Clyde, one of the points of the film is that there is no hero. Everyone's corrupt in one way or another, defiled by "the sins of the father," the father being Marshal Speakes. The exception is Jack, who's simply corrupted by his conman nature and desire to provide for his crippled brother, which is another example of kin-bias. Yet he clearly displays traits of love & loyalty, which Sarah is able to easily pick up on after her experiences with an abusive husband. So, although there are strong amoral aspects to the story, one gets the vibe that a certain person or people may move on to a positive and respectable future, once justice is served and they perhaps find the grace of another shot at life, which is a big IF.

NEGATIVES:

• Sam Elliott, the quintessential Westerner, is his usual laconic self, but he's not the main character, plus his role is atypical since he's not the customary easy-going, likable hero; here he's quiet and respectable until one sees his blind hatred and unwillingness to see anything less than nobility in his son, who he obviously spoiled. This isn't a negative to me; I'm only citing it for those who prefer to see Elliot as the noble star in Westerns.

• As the film progresses it becomes clearer that this is a straight-to-video Western. For instance, the film was shot in New Mexico with very fitting locations for a Western, but they seem minimalistic and bleak. Of course, this may have been the point since they're on "the desperate trail." Another example would be a couple cases of questionable dialogue/acting and the simple soundtrack. Again, I don't personally find this objectionable since I appreciate low-budget movies.

The runtime is 92 minutes.

FINAL WORD: "The Desperate Trail" is a solid Western with a lot of drive and action, plus it has thought-provoking themes that are fairly covert and left to the viewer to mine. Although the main characters appear amoral or immoral on the surface the story reveals why they're corrupt and desperate, besides themes of love & justice come into play. However, those who only prefer Elliott in the typical role of the easygoing Western hero should stay away.

GRADE: B

This western starts out very well, then gets too Rambo-ish, meaning the bad guys can't hit the side of a barn with their shots. Despite that credibility problem, it's a pretty good film with excellent sound, nice cinematography, some interesting special-effects and sound with the gunshots and wounds and a different kind of soundtrack. I needed the TV Guardian with this because there is an excessive amount of Lord's name in vain in here.

Actually, this is a modern-day film noir put in a western setting. Edgy characters played by Sam Elliott (the ultimate cowboy face), Craig Sheffer, Linda Fiorentino (hard-nosed, as always), Bradford Whitford and Frank Whalley.

Sam Elliot and Linda Fiorentino go toe to toe in this very entertaining TV western. Elliott plays Marshall Bill Speakes, a lawman obsessed with catching Sarah O'Rourke (Fiorentino), his fugitive daughter-in-law. It seems that Sarah killed her husband. Speakes is understandably rather upset and tears up the west pursuing her when she escapes his grasp. Along the way, Sarah allies herself with a dandified highwayman and the story becomes a rather quirky Bonnie and Clyde story. But things aren't always what they seem as Speakes' tactics for catching the pair become increasingly ruthless as Elliott goes against his usual good-guy image. The audience sympathies are fully with the outlaws in this story. Writer-Director Pesce gives the story a relentless pace as the antagonists maneuver around each other. Visually, the film owes a lot to Leone and Peckinpah (right down to the slow motion death scenes) but the plot is so fast-paced and the characters are so interesting, the pyrotechnics never over-shadow the story. If you are a fan of either Elliott or Fiorentino, The Desperate Trail is a must see.

It's too bad that Sam Elliot was born about 30 years too late and was not on the scene in the 40s and 50s when westerns began to change to more adult themes. He was as born to the saddle as a Joel McCrea or a Gary Cooper was, Elliott would have been a superstar then.

Not that he's done too badly now as The Desperate Trail shows. It's just that westerns have limited release for a specialized audience now. When we meet Elliott he's a marshal escorting a handcuffed prisoner for a date with a hangman. His prisoner is Linda Fiorentino and a holdup interrupts the journey.

When all is said and done another passenger Craig Sheffer makes off with several grand in Wells Fargo money and Fiorentino is loose and Elliott in a most embarrassing position. Naturally the marshal rounds up a posse and pursues the outlaws.

But this is a western with modern and adult themes, more modern than was discussed even in those beginning days of adult westerns. Sam and Linda do have a relationship of sorts and Linda is a battered spouse. As the film progresses Elliott is shown not to be the upstanding marshal that he professes to be and what we expect in the usual type of westerns.

If you like action there are more than enough shooting incidents to satisfy your craving. Elliott, Fiorentino, and Sheffer give fine performances in the leads.

A western with some very modern themes.

A woman , convict of killing an abusive husband , manages to escape from the marshal Bill Speakes (Sam Elliott) who's escorting to her hanging . After a failed stagecoach robbery Sarah (Lind Fiorentino) and another thief named Jack Cooper (Craig Sheffer) rob the money , the latter managing to snatch away the transported twenty-five hundred dollars from her . So she follows him to get it back . Soon after , she teams up with the con man in a plot to rob a bank to start a new life . While the marshal who wants her dead so wrongly , he even doesn't mind breaking the law , as he enlists a posse and sets after them. Travellers. Partners. Lovers. Robbers. No one escapes from Marshal Bill Speakes.

This The Desperate Trail ¨(1994) contains strong performances augmented by blazing guns , hobbled by weak writing . Nevertheless, it doesn't have much interest at times , neither intensity enough , though Sam Elliott captures his role pretty well . J. P. Pesce's slick direction , he was named Best Independent Director of the Year at the Hamptons International Film Festival for his critically acclaimed film The Desperate Trail (1994) , which he wrote and shoot . Nice acting from Sam Elliot as the merciless avenger Marshal Speakes who's really decided to sentence his contender to the gallows . Star Sam Elliott is a detached figure in Western genre , being one of its main representatives , performing a lot of them in the Eighties and Nineties , as cinema as TV , such as : Cactus , Houston The Legend of Texas , Yellow Rose , The Quick and the Dead , Gettysburg , Hi-Lo County , You Know My Name , Buffalo Girls , Indians, Wild Times , The Shadow Riders , and several others . While Linda Fiorentino is fine as the brave woman and an arrested killer who decides to no longer take any humiliation or battery , as she frees herself . She becomes partner to bandit Jack Cooper well played by Craig Sheffer.

The motion picture was professionally directed by P. J. Pesce , though it has some flaws . P. J. Pesce studied directing under and Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese from whom he received honors and also studied editing and acting . This filmmaker is an expert on sequels such as he proved in ¨Sniper 3 ¨ and ¨ From dusk till down : the hangman's daughter ¨ and ¨The lost boys : the tribe¨. Equally , he directed a lot of episodes of notorious TV series , such as : ¨Leverage¨ , ¨Fringe¨ , ¨Transporter¨, ¨Under the Dome¨ , ¨Supernatural¨ , ¨American Gothic¨ , ¨Code Black¨, ¨Quantico¨, ¨Blue Bloods¨ , among others. Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable Western . The movie will appeal to Sam Elliott fans.

I guess this is supposed to be a feminist Western. While I liked Linda Fiorentino's performance, I also have to wonder what her husband did to her to justify so many murders, so much mayhem. I guess it just spiraled out of control and she did what she had to do to avoid being executed, but some characters were killed who didn't really seem to deserve it. Sam Elliot and Craig Sheffer did decent work, and even Bradley Whitford was OK overdoing a brogue. Like so many Westerns, everybody sure seemed to have an awfully lot of ammunition. The cigarettes and some of the weapons seemed a little bit anachronistic, but the time setting was never really explicit, so never mind. I can't really say see it, but I can't say avoid it either. It depends.

P.S. I don't know if this was a deliberate part of the realism of this film, but about the brief topless scene by Jill Scott Momaday. Her breasts are a bit sagging, noticeably real. I'm not putting down Ms. Momaday, as I prefer that to the more common huge mounds of silicone. Just thought it was interesting.

Sam Elliot plays a hardened Sheriff bent on capturing his daughter in law because she killed his son who had the audacity to beat her. The sheriffs methods at times seem heavy handed, but he is a dedicated lawman who will not shoot her at the first chance. No, he intends to see her hang. One of the most vicious lines in the movie is his while telling her what it's like. He tells her, "You can hear a neck snap, sounds like breaking a carrot." Excellent portrayals all around, even has a few surprises. I do feel that toward the end the woman on the run become a loose cannon, blazing away at any who offend. This might be taken as her rage against men who belittle and abuse women as had her husband, the son of the sheriff who hunts her down at all costs.

The Desperate Trail is directed and co-written by P. J. Pesce with Tom Abrams. It stars Sam Elliott, Craig Sheffer, Linda Fiorentino and Frank Whalley. Music is scored by Stephen Endelman and cinematography by Michael Bonvillain. Plot sees Fiorentino and Scheffer team up as wanted fugitives out on the lam, pursued by lawman Sam Elliott, who will so anything outside the law to get his way.

The violence is loaded and film aspires to be a Leone and Peckinpah hybrid, so much so it would be easy for the casual Western viewer to believe they were witness to something special in the genre. Slow motion action and explosive blood squibs are the order of the day, throw in some genre staples and you are good to go. After a great opening, a false dawn if ever there was one, Pesce's (From Dusk Till Dawn 3/Sniper 3) picture suffers from bad direction, bad editing, awful musical scoring and the biggest problem of all, gross miscasting. Fiorentino, a fine actress and a fine looking woman, is no rooting tooting vengeance seeking blood spilling cowgirl, while Scheffer? Seriously? Who thought that was a good idea? And Endelman scores it like it's the bastard son of science fiction and Australia outback.

Elliott is good value, he almost always is, but even he at times looks to be wondering just what he is doing in such poor fare. Bonvillain's photography holds up well, with some nice broad lensing of the Santa Fe and Tesuque Pueblo locations; with one gorgeous red sky shot particularly impressive, and the final shoot out is competently staged. But this is a bad Western film, even by TV movie standards. Cribbing from better movies and better film makers does not a good film make, case in point, The Desperate Trail. 3/10

Working class criminal Craig Sheffer teams up with escaped murderess Linda Fiorintino, who's better at killing than he is. Together they plot a bank robbery fall in love (sort of), and try to elude ruthless US Marshal Sam Elliott, the father of the man Fiorintino killed.

A solid enough western, The Desperate Trail rides the early 90's wave of renewed interest in the genre, brought about by the success of Unforgiven and Dances With Wolves.

This has enough blood, guts, and bullets to satisfy action fans, as well as good production values and performances, especially Elliott who's apparently as good at being nasty as he is at being folksy.

My only problem is that despite the fact that the climax is action-packed, it stops just short of being satisfying.

Conagher, with Sam Elliot, is much better. Don't know if I've ever seen such phony, bogus gunfights. Everybody shoots everything they can to supposedly kill each other, but only one person seeming dies from it. But this is a "politically correct" tale of a woman who murders her man. Making bad choices of men is not new, is it? The cinematography & costumes including some cool hats are nice, so much so you might want to put on a slicker & be tough with a gun or two. Ha! DejaVu, all over again? This movie is not for the cerebrally gifted, more for those, including feminist apologists, holding on to the past/their "stuff", like possibly blame, the belief in violence, revenge, glorifying the "good old days".

This film begins with a stagecoach traveling on a dirt road somewhere out west carrying 5 passengers. One of the passengers is a federal marshal named "Bill Speakes" (Sam Elliott) and he is escorting a female prisoner by the name of "Sarah O'Rourke" (Linda Fiorentino). Also on the stagecoach is a young man named "Jack Cooper" (Craig Sheffer) who appears to be friendly enough but seems to be hiding something in a small case which he won't allow anyone to see. Suddenly three outlaws appear and even though they are eventually killed in their holdup attempt Jack manages to grab the money in the strongbox and ride away with the loot. But what he doesn't know is that this isn't the last he will see of Sarah as she also manages to escape and desperately wants the money that he has stolen. Naturally, having lost his prisoner Bill is not far behind and it soon becomes obvious he is not at all what he seems. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was one of those more modern Westerns where it becomes difficult to determine the good guys from the bad. Likewise, although the cast was certainly capable enough, the plot seemed too uncharacteristic for that specific time period and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Average.

This movie seems to have been written under the shade of Unforgiven - the beating of a woman justifies over a dozen murders. I didn't see it that way. Throughout the movie, my sympathy (unlike that of Mr. English who also reviewed this) was with the marshal (as rough as he was) in catching and hanging the murderer - and her partner.

The movie was very well-done though - and a particularly wonderful and surprising beginning.

Note the wonderful chimed music when things get most exciting.

It's worth seeing. Linda Fiorentino is superb - and Elliott was born to play westerns - and does this wonderfully - with great restraint.

A stagecoach is transporting the snobbish fop Jack Cooper (Craig Sheffer); the couple Mamie Hollister (Robin Westphal), and her abusive husband Zeb Hollister (John Furlong); Marshall Bill Speakes (Sam Elliott) and his prisoner Sarah O'Rourke (Linda Fiorentino) that will be hanged. Out of the blue, three robbers attack the stagecoach and kill the driver and the guard. But Speakes assumes the control of the stagecoach and shoots the bandits, killing also one robber that climbs on the back. But the handcuffed Sarah grabs his gun and surprises and dominates Speakes. She robs the stagecoach but is surprised by Jack that steals her and flees with the money. But later, he is surprised by Sarah in his hotel room, but Speakes and Hollister surprises them again and they flee together. Jack learns that Speakes is the father-in-law of Sarah and she killed his son that was an abusive husband. Now, Marshall forgets the law and organizes a posse to hunt down Sarah.

"The Desperate Trail" is a TV western movie with a cat and mouse story. All the characters are "bad guys", including the Marshall, and the viewers will certainly cheer for Jack and Sarah. The plot is forgettable but it is worthwhile watching as a non-serious entertainment, especially for fans of the gorgeous Linda Fiorentino. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil):"Na Trilha dos Fugitivos" ("In the Trail of the Fugitives")

When you see Sam Elliot's name attached to a western movie, you think there must be something good about it. Well that is correct in this case too, except the only thing worth watching in the movie is Sam Elliot!

This is a movie that can't figure out what it wants to be! A comedy, a serious western, a shoot them up, kill them all western, etc.

Sam Elliot aside, the acting is not good. and the directing and editing is not good either! Just watching the opening sequence should have given it away for me. During the stagecoach robber scene at the start, you see the stagecoach going at full speed, and then camera cuts to another angle and it is going slow! It returns to the original camera and it is going fast, and then back to slow again, and ... well you get the picture.

I have nothing about B movies, especially westerns, but this one is not worth your time.

Its got a pretty face, one con man, a hardened marshal (Sam Elliot) and miscellaneous one-time deputies.

Just another boilerplate western with very little creativity in the plot or anything else for that matter.

What would Sam Elliot be without that unique voice who is better at voice overs, than anything else? (Beef, its whats for dinner) Lots of customary shootouts with people dropping from a spray of bullets.

It gets five stars because its as mediocre as a movie can get. Not good and not bad. Here's the thing. I got a Sam Elliott "western collection" at a yard sale and this was the first of the three movies I watched. I'm going to read the reviews on the other two movies before wasting my time on another mediocre movie.

awesome western--amazing action. fiorentino is quite good and for the first time sam elliott is a bad guy (and a very convincing one) frank whaley continues to be one of our greatest actors. the direction and writing are really great--why hasn't anyone seen this movie?

This little-known Western is well-made and well-cast, with strong performances from Craig Sheffer and Linda Fiorentino. What starts out as a light-hearted romp becomes progressively darker, shading into tragedy at the end. There is an unusual and striking music score, which materially adds to the film.

As this western opens a stage coach is about to be ambushed. Aboard are a conman, Jack Cooper; Mr and Mrs Hollister; Marshall Bill Speakes and his prisoner Sarah O'Rourke, who is being taken to be hanged. The ambush is unsuccessful but it does change Sarah's circumstances. She gets hold of a gun and has the Marshall and Mr Hollister cuffed to the coach before taking the money from the strong box... she doesn't have it long though before Cooper takes it from her and heads to a nearby town. Here she later catches up with him but they are both forced to flee as Speakes arrives. Cooper has a plan to get more money and he and Sarah form an unlikely partnership. Speakes and a posse are soon on their trail. As the story progresses we learn why she was sentenced to hang and why Speakes is taking it so personally.

I must admit that I hadn't heard of this western till I spotted the DVD in a charity shop. I like the genre and enjoyed other performances from Linda Fiorentino and Sam Elliott so decided to get it... I'm glad I did. In many ways the story is typical of the genre but there are some good twists; most notably having a female outlaw being pursued. There is a definite feminist undertone but I never thought it was lecturing... the more we learn about Sarah's circumstances the more sympathetic her character becomes. Linda Fiorentino is great in the role making her character both tough and sympathetic. Craig Sheffer puts in a fun performance as Jack Cooper and Sam Elliott impresses as the Marshall, a character who isn't unsympathetic despite his obvious desire to see Sarah hang. The rest of the cast are solid too. The action is exciting without being too bloody. The background music, with its extensive use of bells, might not be typical of a western but it certainly worked for me. Overall I was impressed by this film; if it wasn't for the 4x3 picture I wouldn't have guessed it wasn't made for a cinematic release. I'd certainly recommend this to fans of the genre.

I don't like westerns, and I absolutely hate Sam Elliot, beyond words. But, I actually enjoyed this. One of the few feminine westerns out there. All westerns usually seem so macho pig, with no story line, and gunfights galore. All the acting was pretty good, except for Sam Elliot, who I don't see why everyone says he's so good, and I'm not saying Frank Whaley was bad in this, but I did see hints of Swing Kids, every so often. But, overall, it's good, and worth watching even if you hate westerns.