For film critics and film school class

Rating: 7/10 (2 September 2007)

If you liked the original Glenn Ford/Van Heflin starrer, there is much to relish in this remake. This is not sloppy story telling (see the Hitcher remake for that). Expertly made and well acted, the vistas are crisp, wide and colorful with burnished golds and sharp blues. The shootouts are brutal. The tension between the lead characters is sharply edged. But the film for me is not completely satisfying. With character developments and revelations that strike me as being intended to reflect the complexities of today, the makers strive for ambiguity and achieve it, much to my disappointment. To me, westerns, even those that are deeply layered, have a certain simplicity, elegance and an unwavering moral compass. I offer UNFORGIVEN, OPEN RANGE, VERACRUZ and RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY as examples. This one, however, does not fall in that category. But it comes close...