Reviews

Reasonably well written, ok performances. Historically superficial and somewhat inaccurate. For instance. Custer proclaimed he graduated last in his West Point class, a popular fallacy. He graduated 34th of 108.

Whoever ran the props department obviously "phoned it in." Jesse James' gang robbed a bank in 1869 carrying guns not made unttil 1873. Cavalry troops had 1873 rifles when slauhtered in 1868. Believe I even saw 1890s vintage Winchesters used by Indians in the 1860s. Having read "The Outlaw Trail" several times, I expected better from a Robert Redford project - this reminded me more of something thrown together by Alec Balwin.

Been a fan of Sandra Bullock's since Love Potion #9 - been a few clinkers, but I seriously never thought she would do one like this. At 58, is she trying to relive her earlier success? Hard to say. Brad Pitt and Channing Tatum have moments (very few!) and the lack of chemistry is painfully apparent. The action is stilted, the plot is incredibly derivative. Imagine the worst moments of The Rundown (well, at least it was fun!) Indiana Jones 2 and 4, the few bad parts of Romancing the Stone, mash them together with Daniel Radcliffe as a colorlessly unthreatening guy. Oh, and Sandra pretty much phones in her part, too. Find something better to do for two hours, like watching paint dry.

Although dated due to its original release date, this is a funny collection of great bits from films ranging from silents to then new releases. As an example, there are multiple variations on "walk this way" going back to William Powell. I used to have a home-recorded snowy VHS copy of this:; would happily buy a newer version of it to enjoy again.

I watched this when it first came out, and thought it shallow and pointless. The only part I liked was Mark Knopfler's theme (which to be honest was done better on many Dire Straits' albums.) I have seen many compare this to Waking Ned Devine, so I thought I would see what I had missed. Well, the answer is still 'nothing.' Little plot, neither warm nor amusing, the Scots sound more English than Scots, and basically it is boring. Lovely countryside and filming earns it three stars, but with Peter Capaldi's gawkish support the only acting that didn't feel phoned in, that's about it. Two, now four, hours of my life wasted.

The plot, irritating narration, and lack of originality have been covered at length. Not Murphy's worst, not his best. Biggest problem I saw was its absolutely miserable sound. Remember the standard jet-fighter sound used in every jet movie of the '50s? It is omnipresent here... even revolver shots are truncated clips of the same noise. Otherwise, it has a relatively solid cast, and you won't feel like you wasted two hours of your life.