Broken Trail

I love Duvall in westerns, THC didn't do it for me. He took me out of the mood basically every time he was on screen. The story itself is pretty meh, but there is something to admire about moseying and wranglin' for a few hours in this day and age.

“Broken Trail” is a Western built on a tension that never resolves: the nobility men are capable of, and the cruelty they often choose instead. Those two forces run side by side the entire film. Some characters carry themselves with a kind of quiet heroism, while others operate without conscience, driven only by money and self-interest. In between are the victims with no control over their fate, treated as property rather than human beings. That part is hard to watch, true to the time, but s

I really enjoyed this flick. What others thought of as slow is what I love. It made me want to hit the trail. Robert Duvall is great as usual, and Thomas Hayden Church is badass. Both characters are good men. The scenery was gorgeous. I can't get enough of these kind of traditionally-flavored westerns.

Duvall as a more avuncular version of Gus McRae. Thomas Haden Church as he nephew was the weak link for me--he's has very little life or screen presence. I don't need action every second, but the film drags a bit, not using these slower moments well (probably because Church didn't work for me; in contrast, I liked seeing Duvall and Sacchi together on screen). ps70

25-12-2011

Wanted to like it more but thought that the story plodded along a lil too much. Otherwise solid performances by all and great cinematography.