Like sticking your hand in the honey jar and get sh** on your fingers

Rating: 3/10 (11 November 2008)

I was excited to see this movie, even though people had been badmouthing it to me, because I love westerns and the cast sets up expectations obviously. Anyway, I'm not going to waste vast amounts of time on this movie, so I'll make it short. I was impressed with the first half of the movie, where Russel Crowes character still had credibility and the allegiance of Christian Bale was still undefined. Actually the best thing about this movie I find, was the mystery of Bale's undecided sympathies, that seemed a potential for an original turn in the plot. When this edge was taken off quite early in the movie, in the Ranch-scene, the only thing I had going for me was Russel Crowe's character that eventually also came over the top. I agree he is an incredible actor, but his character just wasn't good enough to make the whole movie. The whole intellectual villain with a heart and a warped sense of religion wasn't anything new and not as good as when done before. Personally I wish I re-saw Tombstone or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Sometime in the West or any other classic western than wasting my time on this second-grade movie. Let's face it, in westerns and gunfights there's no silver medal...