Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Billy Wonka (A) on January 29, 2016 at 20:18:14

Jane lives in the midst of scrub and rocks somewhere in the territory of New Mexico. It is seven years after the civil war and she has a daughter and a good outlaw husband who was formerly affiliated with a very bad gang led by Ewan McGregor. (Wot's a posh UK'er doing in a bad ass bandito role?)

It doesn't take but a few minutes before all the flashbacks begin to slowly tell us the true story of Jane, Hamm, and Dan (Edgerton). Jane was fiance to Dan when the Civil War broke out. Dan said it wouldn't last more than a couple of months and that he would be "right back". Surprise. Shortly after he leaves she finds herself with child and waits for years. Finally, she heads out West under the protection of Colin McCann (McGregor) hoping to start over at the edge of the Pacific. McCann wastes no time taking her to a cat house where one of his boy's, Hammond, comes to rescue her.

I felt the repetitive flash backs did not wear well but were made necessary by the way the story was told by making us wonder who all these men were and why were they after Jane. The acting was spot on for a Western and the only problem I had was with McGregor's hair and mustache being jet black. The action sequences were well staged and the cinematography well done. Portman was a surprise with how well she fit into the Old West with her characterization of a frontier woman. She seemed natural for the role.

Toss the coin on walking in. You might be better off with a cable viewing as nothing really stands out to make this really special.