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American Outlaws
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Colin Farrell,
Scott Caan, Ali Larter, Timothy Dalton, Gabriel Macht, Will
McCormack, Gregory Smith, Kathy Bates, Nathaniel Arcand,
Ronny Cox, Harris Yulin |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG-13 |
| Released By: |
Warner
Bros. |
| Web Site: |
www.americanoutlaws.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
There's some
violence, but not too bad. |
| Date Movie: |
She'll probably
find it stupid. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Some kissing and
talk. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Some people get
shot and beat up. |
| Action: |
A few good action
scenes. |
| Laughs: |
Probably not
intentionally, but quite a few. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
Jesse escaping
from the bad guys, or were they the good guys? |
| Memorable
Quote: |
"She took my
dog." |
| Directed By: |
Les Mayfield |
| Produced By: |
James G. Robinson,
Bill Gerber, Jonathan Zimbert |
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American Outlaws
A Movie Review |
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Does anybody really know the true story of Jesse
James? Does anybody really care? Probably not anymore since the
various stories of Jesse James have made him out to be a good guy, a
bad guy, kinda funny, kinda dark, and, well, the truth is out there
but moviegoers will probably never see it, and you definitely don’t
see it in the movie "American Outlaws." What you do get is
an almost comical look at a fake story based around the
James-Younger Gang.
For "American Outlaws" you get Jesse James (Colin
Farrell) and Cole Younger (Scott Caan). They and their brothers are
fighting in the Civil War together, having a grand ole time dodging
bullets and "killing the Yankees" which makes their mama
proud, but sadly the war comes to an end so it’s time to go home.
But back at home times are troubling. The mean, nasty railroad men
are trying to buy the farmland but the townsfolk won’t sell. So
the mean, nasty railroad men turn up the heat, blowing up some
houses and killing Jesse’s mama. Jesse, fresh on the hills of a
new romance with Zee (Ali Larter), ditches the chick, rounds up his
Civil War fighting buddies, and it’s off to get revenge by hitting
the railroad men where it hurts – stealing their money and blowing
up their railroad tracks.
Now don’t go to see "American Outlaws" expecting a
great western because, well, it ain’t. This is a movie which
actually ends up more like a comedy because the things that happen
are so stupid, although I don’t think that’s what the
movie-makers had in mind. Some cases in point: The James-Younger
Gang is a group of nice robbers. If you don’t shoot at them, well,
they won’t shoot you – they just want your money. And if you do
shoot at them and there are dozens of you, you are all bad shots
while Jesse and Cole could probably shoot a man dead from two miles
away in a heavy crosswind if need be. Also you can expect the
obligatory "guy getting tossed out of the saloon window ending
up in a street fight in the rain and mud" scene.
And then, of
course, you know Jesse is going to get caught, and then, of course,
you know he’s going to get loose, and then, of course, you know it
will be in some fun, action-scene kind of way. Now these might seem
like bad things, but they are the kind of things that really save
"American Outlaws" because it makes you not take the movie
so seriously, makes you not really care if the story is true, but if
you just sit back, relax, and let the cheesy things make you chuckle
you will enjoy the movie a little bit more.
In the end I’ll give "American Outlaws" 2 ½ stars
out of 5. The opening scene of Jesse distracting the army while
being shot at takes the reality out of the movie right away and lets
you know not to take the movie seriously. Let the dorky jokes
happen, let the cheesy dialogue cause you to chuckle and groan, and
don’t try to understand why Jesse’s gun’s don’t get ruined
when his house burns down. Just let things happen.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
