A Modern Greek Tragedy

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2012)

Hero worship, love, betrayal, ambition, the value of loyalty tinged with not a little madness in —and an audience's pity for — all its central characters, this movie is what movie-making should be all about.
An earlier reviewer called it "a hard sell" and I must admit my first thought at the end of this film was "how the hell did they get the financiers to sign off on this?". It's a gunfight movie with barely a gunfight in it, and yet it well never cease to grab you from the first moment to the last. Every scene in this movie is compelling. Each scene could almost stand on its own as an exemplar of the art of cinematography, screen writing, direction and acting.
I've seen reviews that say this movie was too long. No, it's not quite long enough, and if you watch it at home the first thing you'll do after losing yourself in Nick Cave's haunting soundtrack that rolls with the credits is to replay it all over again (BTW, Cave cameos in the movie as saloon bar singer, so watch out for that!).
What is there to say about the plot that hasn't already been said? Each and every character is a study in the personal, moral, and opportunistic pitfalls of a life that is knocked from pillar to post by the winds of fate. You can't help but empathise with every one in the movie and their fate, even (perhaps especially...) Robert Ford.
If you like movies that move you, you'll love this one. Guaranteed.