The Last Stop in Yuma County

Short review: I enjoyed 'The Last Stop in Yuma County', however I feel like there was room for me to enjoy it even more. I typically love these single-setting mystery/thrillers. I felt like the film was consistently good throughout, but it was never quite able to take a step up and reach that next level to make it something truly great.

The film is a lot of fun though. There are all the usual rag-tag misfits in terms of characters. Some nice dashes of humour along the way and some good menacing villains that are not to be messed with. The ending was also pretty wild and made sure things ended on a reasonably memorable note. 7/10.

... and i mean this in a far more positive way than it sounds!

A slow-burning B-movie with a single-setting scenario and American Rust atmosphere, Yuma County introduces lovably one-dimensional characters (again I mean well, they are so by design) - right until the plot decides to have a lil bit of macabre fun and put them in the most complex, unresolvable, dilemmatic (most often life or death) situations. The second half of the movie recompenses for the viewer's patience with the first: it is dark and hilarious and sad and unnerving, and more; there's twists and turns worthy of a James Patterson novel, and soon enough it all escalates faster than you can say -escalation-...

In short: One can see where the good ratings throughout come from. This is an enjoyable little gem of a movie that also doesn't overstay its welcome. Technically and acting-wise it does a fine enough job as well.

Summary: The movie is entertaining with a theme of western slow burner. But does not go beyond a good one time watch.

Details:

• The western vibe with desert, dust, heat, guns, bad guys, is all spot-on and gets you hooked into the story

• In the beginning the slow-burn is good but soon the movie picks up pace and there are lot of small twists and turns

• But you dont really feel bad for any character or emotionally moved/attached(except maybe for the scenes with baby) or have deep philosophical state of mind at any point in the movie or in the end.

• it has traces of Tarantino style western, coenesque theme of idiocy meeting evil with surprising coincidences/accidents but fails to match up to their level.

• Basically its a movie about greed which keeps you glued when its on but after watching the movie you are underwhelmed and forget this movie quickly.

With each new narrative development, the film's game of cat and mouse grows more complex... Some people lay on to the danger they're in, while others are blissfully unaware. The diner becomes a pressure cooker, and you never know who's going to make the move, either accidentally or on purpose, that sets the whole thing off...

You can feel Quentin Tarantino's artistic DNA coursing through this story... There are little moments of blackhearted comedy among the bloodshed, but through it all, The Last Stop in Yuma County makes sure that those gunshots resonate. It isn't about the violence overall as we're watching people die messy, unnecessary deaths that come about for no good reason. They just happened to run out of gas at the worst possible time...

Galluppi isn't afraid to kill any of his darlings. Who's left standing by the day's end becomes just as surprising as the insanely entertaining journey getting there... The single location setting is richly textured, with production designer Charlie Textor ensuring the rest stop has as much personality as the elite group stuck there. The vibrant color grading further enriches the production value. Despite the desolate setting...

Also the primary thing that stands tall is the camera work gorgeous enough that reflects the mood of the desert...Also the score combines with what's in the frame in such a way that it satisfies the haunting minds of the atmosphere...While the sound design helps to design or to establish the tension that the least or minute barren desert too contributes...

And finally what to say about the casting everybody did their job in perfection that you can't move the eyes off the screen & therefore keeping our adrenaline pumping until the last act...One can't forget "FARGO" or even " THE HATEFUL EIGHT" Where the director honors the G. O. A. T...

Overall it's everybody's cup of coffee to rejuvenate consuming the medium called Cinema...

This is by far one of the best indie films I've seen in a very long time. It's a great combination of good acting, balancing humor and suspense while leveraging a great script that is impossible to predict.

Indie films usually struggle with budget and acting, so if you can strip the need for budget and get some quality actors to come on board you're gonna have a shot at a winner...this is one of those times.

Joceline Donahue (from The House of the Devil) and Jim Cummings hit the ball out of the park with their acting in this. Also, even being in just one remote setting primarily, the film never gets boring and the last third is super engaging. Great effort guys!!! Kudos to all involved! 8.2/10.