Jericho

Mark Valley's charisma and excellent acting are clearly on display. Leon Coffee is terrific as the itinerant cowboy preacher. Supporting roles by R. Lee Ermey (superb as always), Mark Collie (the country singer), and Lisa Stewart keep the story moving. While clearly a first movie from a young production company, they put together a very good film that is suitable for the entire family. Extraordinarily well-written story that is anything but predictable. Minimal violence but none of it graphic. I'm surprised that Valley didn't get offered additional movie roles on the basis of this. Believe that he and Coffee had excellent on-screen chemistry. There should be a sequel.

Mark Valley (who?) stars as a cowpoke suffering from amnesia, trying to regain his memory in this low-budget STV job shot on location in Texas and New Mexico. Along the way, he works as a cattle drover, a gold panner and a ranch hand before discovering his true identity in a twist ending. One thing for sure: he knows how to handle a pistol, and does so frequently in this gritty but clichéd western. The costumes and general look of the characters and settings feel authentic enough. What's missing is a Sam Elliott or Tom Selleck to give the movie a certain zing. I will say I stuck with it to find out the guy's true identity, which for most viewers likely will come as a complete surprise.

This movie is a great example of why so many people are watching independent, "Indie", movies now. The absence of large amounts of capital requires the artists, (producers, directors, writers and actors) to become more creative.

The story is original and the dialog is realistic. It passes my "Believability Test" for action/drama movies. (Do you believe this could happen, in this way?)

Leon Coffee is a surprisingly good actor. If he ever tires of dodging bulls, (he is a professional rodeo clown) Hollywood could certainly use his talent.

Many of the extras in this film were cowboy "re-enactors" from around Texas. They provided a bit of extra authenticity to the film.

Mark Valley did a good job of portraying a man trying to figure out who he is. Leon Coffee became an instant likeable character and did a very good job. R. Lee Ermey did the job that would be expected of someone who can portray a great bit character on a constant basis. Of course Buck Taylor did his great job as always and you learn quickly to like the character he plays. Mark Collie improves with each film he is in. Once again he can surprise you with the character in him. The storyline was great and it took me almost a third of the way in to start realizing what was going on. You couldn't stop watching it just to see the ending. A couple of odd part were left hanging but I really don't think they would have made a difference in the production. This was a very enjoyable western and for our time now it was completed with good thought and acting. Rare nowadays with all the blood and guts being shown. You'll enjoy it.

We own a videos shop so we preview a lot of movies and we get very bored with bad ones very quickly. I found this film to be a wonderful film made the way good westerns were. It has many good values taught through out it; by people/characters trying to do what they feel is right. It doesn't fixate on violence with all sorts of meet me at high noon on Main Street for a shoot out. That isn't to say there isn't any bad guys in it, and there are shootouts. It is more real than that. I didn't feel it dragged it covered seven years of a man's life in a short space of time. Sum it up this way, my daughter who isn't into westerns and my husband who is both enjoyed it and that says a lot.