Blackthorn

"Blackthorn" - Good, but not great
One reviewer's blurb said: "A classic old-fashioned western, every bit as good as 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'." It is neither. It should not even be compared to that film since it's only marginally in the same genre.

There are many good things about "Blackthorn" -- Sam Shepard's acting, for instance. The scenery is also excellent, albeit dully colored. I would have chosen a better film stock. Most of the colors seemed drab and lifeless to me. That may be partially due to the generally overcast skies that were the norm in Bolivia - at least that appears to be the case when they were shooting this film. But I believe that either the film they used did not reproduce the colors well or there was something wrong with the projector at the theater in which I saw it. Yet even with the lack of color saturation, there were some spectacular vistas as our hero made his way across the country. The director made excellent use of the widescreen format.

Another...

Pleasantly surprised...
Surprised. Not by Shepard, who I've long thought is one of our great under-appreciated leading men, but by the story, the style and feel of the movie. I think I loved it. I've read some critics have called it "slow".....absolutely, its what I call a "slow burner." Not every story needs to move like a freight train.

There are a lot of ways the writer and director could have screwed this up, in just my opinion they dodged all the bullets. Like so many people I have a long term love affair with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," so any movie taking a stab at sequel-ing that is running on dangerous ground. But they pulled it off.

If you like sweeping scenery, genuine-feeling westerns, GREAT acting (Shepard is beyond perfect all the way to amazing) those are all reasons enough to watch Blackthorn. I paid $9.99 to watch "before its in the theaters," and it was definitely worth it for me.

Great Western
Well done in all respects. The scenery is fantastic, acting is excellent, story is great, and everything works. It will pull you in and keep your attention like a good book.

Really liked this one. Try it, I think you'll like it.

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