Outlaw Posse

I had the unpleasure of watching Outlaw Posse this pass weekend, it ended up more like an Outlaw Nightmare, what a piece of trash this turned out to be. One would think with a famous father in the movie making business Mario would be better at it, his acting has gotten worse if it could sink any lower, in every since of the word, it was pathetic, the script was lack luster, the acting laughable. My question is what were they thanking, really, Whoopi Goldberg a stage coach driver, why not a camel crossing a desert? I would guess, and I could be wrong, Mario keep thinking, if he keep trying he might get one right, after all these years, it still a lost cause. A movie made with rhyme or reason. My final observation, is this, who keeps giving this guy money to waste on these fail attempts, such a shame.

At the time of my writing this, 41 people have actually given this movie 10 stars. My first reaction was, "who are these people?" They couldn't possibly be rating the same movie I just watched. This movie was so unrealistic, poorly scripted, had a convoluted story and was so predictable. It became crystal clear the writer was far more interested in pushing a liberal social agenda than actually making a western movie. It would have been much cheaper to simply write a letter-to- the-editor and list all the social grievances included in the film. (I was a little surprised I didn't see windmills in the background.) And on a technical point. I had no idea that when an arrow was shot and hit someone in the neck, it would enter and leave half on one side and half on the other. Pretty amazing.

While I am not particularly keen on Western movies, I do sit down to watch one every now and again. And since I had not heard about "Outlaw Posse" prior to watching it, I didn't really know what I was in for, nor did I have much of any expectations really. And that meant that writer and director Mario Van Peebles had ever opportunity to entertain and bedazzle me.

The storyline is fairly straightforward and enjoyable. So writer Mario Van Peebles, whom also directed and starred in the movie, managed to put together something that was good. If you enjoy Western movies, then you might get a kick out of "Outlaw Posse".

"Outlaw Posse" has a good cast ensemble, with the likes of Neal McDonough, Cam Gigandet, John Carroll Lynch, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, Cedric The Entertainer, Whoopi Goldberg and Mario Van Peebles, all in bigger or smaller roles. Needless to say that the acting performances in the movie were good.

I found this 2024 Western movie to be entertaining enough, though it was hardly an outstanding foray into the Western genre. It had enough of the archetypical Western spirit and feel to it to actually work out well enough.

My rating of "Outlaw Posse", from writer and director Mario Van Peebles, lands on a five out of ten stars.

Starts with a good premise: Confederates hid gold in Montana. Let's go get it! And there's a bad guy! He's bad. And there's other downtrodden people. They're good! And there's a multiethnic, multicultural settlement. Yay! And there's a complicated father-son subplot. And a kidnapping! And some musical performances. And some bad singing.

Confused? You will be.

Dialogue? Yes, there is dialogue. Is it stiff? You bet!

Acting? You bet. There are actors doing acting. Is it good acting? Yes! Given what they had to work with in terms of dialogue and plot, for sure. In fact, all of these actors should be given awards for trying so hard, despite the poor hand they were dealt.

I paid $6 to rent this film. If I had feelings, they'd be hurt.

This is an abstract review of the film. The man who made this knew what he was doing. I *think* I get it. Those that don't yet may never be enlightened. Sounds like a bold statement, yes; but this is a reflection of our society, and many of us don't get our current society outside of our own perspectives. If you can't see the world through others' eyes, you won't get the deeper meaning of this movie.

Why not hope for a better future? Do we all need to be vengeful, fearful and spiteful? Can we love and forgive and maybe change the way we structure things to encourage more balance? I think we can and will. If it catches on, this film will be seen in the future as a bellwether.