The Last Stop in Yuma County

... 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.

Nice interesting take on the heist take genre. Lots of inspiration from obviously Quintin, spaghetti westerns especially The Good the Bad and the Ugly. The story unfolds in this wild paranoid situation that can blow up at any moment. You will sit on the edge of the seat during this one.

This film is also set in what looked to me the 60s, so you get a great bit of Americana here and who doesn't love that? The small town in the middle of know where where the gas truck is late an the gas station is out of gas sets up the plot for the entire movie, which is great story telling device. Very possible scenario out west especially in the 60s. I also, love that everyone has a gun on them, which isn't that out of the ordinary in a small American town...though I am only speaking from a current modern perspective of living is small town USA.

Some of the negatives, is sort of basic Hollywood trope on how guns work, which is rather silly, but at least in this movie the unrealistic gun battle, is very important to set up the morality of the characters.

We all believe we are good people, but when the opportunity is there to get away with a crime, this is what really sets apart from the good the bad and the ugly.

You've seen this movie before, this doesn't really do anything new that those haven't done. It's well acted, tightly and competently written, and rather predictable. They try to throw a wrench at the end, but eh, I've seen enough of these types of movies before. The "sweater unraveling movie".

You start out with a loose thread, and the initial pull on it; "No Gas at the Gas Station, since they're in a super remote area, and no gas for the next 100 Miles." Then more and more people come to pull on that loose thread speeding up the destruction of that sweater, 'til it's a pile of yarn. There's your movie.

Its strength is in the acting, and doing CRISP, CLEAN, BELIEVABLE DIALOG and ACTIONS. No one really behaves in a way that doesn't make sense, all actions taken in this movie makes sense and the results of those choices also makes sense. It's a tight and clean script. Which also what makes it mediocre. It's a little too by the books and safe. They realize that by the end and TRY, but fail, TRY to throw a slight curve ball, but you as a wise audience member calls it from a mile away.

You watch this once, and you're good. You won't feel like you were robbed of your time, but ONCE is more than enough. There aren't clever clues foreshadowing the next move in the series of events, hidden in the scenery. It bears everything out in the open.

At an isolated rest stop in Yuma County, Arizona in the 1970s, several characters are forced to wait at the nearby diner after the resupply truck for the gas station is running late including two bank robbers who stole $700,000.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is the feature debut of writer director Francis Galluppi who began his career in music before transitioning to film with short films High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. A passion project for Galluppi, he spent years trying to get the film made with a larger studio only for disagreements between the financiers and Galluppi over the direction of the material to stonewall progress. After that point Galluppi accepted the offer of his executive producer, James Claeys, who sold his home in order to acquire the film's estimated $1 million budget. Using a roster of smaller names and character actors to fill out the cast, the film was a true independent project with the cast mainly coming together through goodwill and shared passion. The film has received a lot of considerable acclaim with director Sam Raimi so impressed with the film he personally hired Galluppi to direct a film in the Evil Dead series. The Last Stop in Yuma County is a solid showcase of Galluppi's strengths as a writer director who creates an engaging thriller with a limited location, talented cast, and guerilla ingenuity.

The Last Stop in Yuma County's premise is simple in that it takes a bunch of different characters with big personalities and builds tension in a small location using the old standard of the "money in a bag". Galluppi does a nice job of establishing his characters who range from overworked waitresses and hard luck traveling salesman to bank robbers on a hair trigger or youthful crooks who fancy themselves as romanticized versions of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate while ignoring what happened to them. The cast made up mostly of smaller character actors do well with the mateiral including Jim Cummings' unnamed knife salesman who's very much a wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time or Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan as the bank robbing duo who start on simmer until building to an explosive release. The film stays great for 70 minutes but once it reaches its conclusion it does kind of feel like Galluppi struggled to wrap the film up in a way that was up to the level of its first two thirds. There's nothing really wrong with the film's ending as it's more or less the old ironic standard that's been the basis for this kind of story seen as far back as The Treasure of Sierra Madre, but it does feel like a case where it's kind of stretching itself in order to get to that point.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is an effective small scale thriller that uses its limited resources and location to strong effect using characters with strong personalities to create a tense thriller that works its way up from simmer to a boil. I personally wasn't a fan of the third act as I felt it paled in comparison to the first two thirds, but it's a strong and effective showcase of Galluppi's abilities as a writer and director.

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.