Jericho

Although very obscure and a little hard to locate, "Jericho", a film which has nothing to do with the city of the same name, is a combination of the genres of mystery and Western that results in something that is quite delightful, however not extraordinary.

The story feels more like it should be set in the 1940s as opposed to the 1880s and it has some truly bad dialogue and ridiculous moments such as in the opening third of the running time and a few spotty performances, but in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed "Jericho" and the mean reason was because obviously the writers had clearly outlined their story a few times to create a fairly complex, but understandable mystery film that really shows its true colors in the final act.

Typically when I review a film, I go into a deep analysis, but this time I'm going to cut short, because "Jericho" was not a film that had my enormously involved or incredibly disinterested. I was somewhere in the midpoint between these two verdicts. I basically liked the movie but more or less as a guilty pleasure. The story is good, but the screenplay is a patchwork of good and bad dialogue, there are some mediocre performances save Mark Valley, Leon Coffee, and some of the supporting cast, and the music score was completely off-kilter. It does make up for this when the mystery of the story is solved towards the end, but then it's sort of ruined when the movie reaches an abrupt, non-conclusive resolution. In the end, if you like Westerns, or better still, if you like mysteries, you may or may not enjoy "Jericho." This is a film that will find its reviewers split right down the middle.

The movie "Jericho" has a different twist to the bad guys. It is really a mystery with a lot of western action. I saw it at the Houston Film Fest and would love to see it again. The actors all did a great job and it was easy to believe what was happening.The sound, lighting and directing was excellent. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys the old west and a good mystery.

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.

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.

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.