Living In The Wild Wild West..."Bone Tomahawk"

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Not Rated (R)

Starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons,

Written and Directed by S. Craig Zahler

The Story:

When two robbers stumble across an Indian burial ground, one is killed and one makes his way to the nearest town. The problem, these Indians have followed him, and they kidnap him from the jail along with a deputy and the town doctor (Simmons) and make their way back into the night. The sheriff (Russell), his deputy (Jenkins) the doctor's husband (Wilson) and the man (Fox) who feels guilt for having brought the doctor to the jail in the first place set off on a quest to save the abducted.

I'm not sure, I think people will either love this one, or hate it.

It's a western, and then in the final act, it quickly changes to a horror movie with some disturbing kills in it.

By then, it may be too little, too late for those that were hoping it was a horror movie much sooner.

Why?

This movie is long.

As in 3 or 4 additional o's loooong.

Clocking in at over 2 hours can be the cinematic equivalent to career suicide, and this points back to a first time writer/director who doesn't know what or when to say cut or to edit a scene down.

I actually didn't mind many of the conversations that the characters had as they set off on their journey. The actors did a nice job of bringing the script to life. But there could have been a few less, or the journey hurried up just a bit to get somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes just as easily.

Plus, I think the deliberate slow pace makes the change in tone at the end of the movie even more jarring. We've sat through 90 minutes of not much happening, and then suddenly everything is happening in such horrific fashion that it becomes unsettling.

Still, I'm glad I watched it.  The film stayed with me for some time, but it's easy to see the many flaws, as well as the many good parts that shone through.

I'll be waiting Zahler's next effort, I just hope he uses a bit more judicious editing.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade: B-/C+ range