American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James

American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James is a low budget, but competently made little Western that nicely captures the spirit, ambience, and panache of early TV Westerns. The budgetary restrictions result in an old school intimate type of story telling, and the "corny " sincerity about the whole thing sets it far apart from the usual direct to video exploitation fare. You can obsess all you want upon its restrictions, but you can't deny the palatable love and nostalgia the director/writer clearly has for classic Westerns. There's real warmth and charm here, and I really appreciate that.

When I stumbled upon the 2010 Western "American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James", I have to say that seeing Jeffrey Combs was on the cast list made me opt to watch the movie without even knowing what I was getting myself into.

The storyline in the movie was pretty straightforward. It was an adequate enough script and storyline that provided me with fair enough entertainment. It was not, however, by any means an outstanding Western experience. But it was suitable for a single viewing.

The only familiar faces on the screen, for me, were actors Peter Fonda and Jeffrey Combs. It was a shame that Jeffrey Combs didn't have a larger role to play in the movie, and that was sort of disappointing to me, because he could have spruced up the movie nicely. The acting performances in the movie were good.

If you enjoy Westerns, then I am sure you would enjoy this particular movie. I, as a casual viewer, found the movie to be adequate.

The wardrobe, set designs, etc. In the movie were nice and helped make the movie appear as a proper Western.

My rating of writer and director Fred Olen Ray's 2010 movie "American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Don't rent this DVD unless you just want to throw your money away. I think that its only redemption would be for a group to drink adult beverages and just make fun of the movie while it is playing.

We rented the DVD: "American Bandits, Frank and Jesse James" with a picture of Peter Fonda holding a side arm printed on the label. Oh Boy! Pop up the popcorn, ice down the coke, we are in for an old fashion western...............Unfortunately Not!

Almost from the opening scene you begin to have your doubts about what is coming; ten minutes later you are pretty sure; twenty minutes into the film you realize what the next hour has in store for you...basically nothing.

The acting is laughably bad, the script must have been written by a high-school teenager, and God only knows what the director must have been thinking.

We would say that it reminded us of the kind of stuff that used to be shown at a Drive-In Movie on a off night, but that would be an insult to Drive-In Movies. Save your hard earned money and let this little title just hopefully disappear into the Land Of Movies Lost. OR: Rent the movie, pretend that you like it for a while, and then realize that this review was accurate and you wasted your money. By then, twenty minutes into the movie or so, there is still the adult beverage angle to try and help you from hitting the eject button and admitting that you rented a flop:)

So unrealistic it was laughable. Why do people waste their money making a movie like this?

Everyone's clothes were so clean, they look new in every scene. Horses are just left everywhere without be tied up. Jessie and Frank just happen to meet, fall in love, and end up kissing the two hottest chicks in the South. (All in about 2 days time.)

Jessie gets a bullet dug out of his shoulder and within minutes is smiling and joking and riding his horse the next day. And these aren't just uneducated grown up farm boys. They are polished philosophers who can speak eloquently about the meaning of life.

Just pathetic.

I just lost precious brain cells watching this! Who writes this garbage? Please, I can help just let me gather a few third-graders and I'll pay them with Oreo cookies and get a better product! And you paid humans to act out this worthless script? Damn.