The Warrant

I've seen amateur civil war reenactment gatherings by retirees being filmed by a 5th grade great-grandson turn out better than this film.

Shea Sizemore's writing experience in short films should've kept this screenplay as a short, instead of this terribly written with lame dialogued poor excuse of a western with comic relief 85 min mess. Even for an 85 min runtime film, the slow pacing and lack of any real unpredictable story made this film feel like 3 hours. Add to that the overbearing and annoying score, and you'll be pulling your hair out.

All actors seemed to act is if they were in a stage play, looking out to no where and overcompensating their lines, it almost felt like a parody.

This is experienced Camera and Electrical Department turned newb director Brent Christy's third film, and it really shows. He failed in directing his cast, proper camera angles and settings.

The cinematography and colors were the only redeeming qualities in this film. Watch the trailer, and you've seen this film. This has to be the worst western I've ever seen. It's a very generous 3/10 from me.

The Warrant DID have some value - lovely, fine horses, authentic tackle, and riders that could ACTUALLY ride, with backwoods Civil War battles between Confed and Yankee footsoldiers. There was just something a bit phony about the setup, for example Hero, John Breaker, lacked that classical taciturn-ness - opting instead for 1970s "whimsical". But I did like, Steve McQueen, (grandson of his namesake) putting in a most solid performance, a face for the Future.

This movie is a throwback to the B-westerns of yesteryear. Trouble is, those old B-westerns are feats of epic cinema compared to this 2020 version of the American Western. And it's a shame, too. Here is THE vehicle that launched many an outstanding and treasured career - Wayne, Mitchum, Stewart, McQueen, Marvin, etc . . . Only these "leading" actors forgot to do their home work. The acting is "Al-Gore-wooden-like" as each actor struggles to strike their best pose to reveal their best side as they regurgitate their canned lines. There is no emotion or meaning to their words - they're just canned lines to be said, not communicated, just said. The Shea Sizemore screenplay makes sense, but it didn't get pulled together. The score adds nothing to the movie. In fact, at times it would be best if there were no score. I lay the quality of this film at the feet of the one to blame - Director Brent Christy. I apparently have never seen a Brent Christy-directed film - I hope I don't again. This film is all over the place, chasing it's tail. Siskel & Ebert - Beware!

I was waking up, and it's an easy movie to follow with a decent script, historical value because of the Civil War timeframe. I recommend this adventure is one you could add to movie night and be ok with.

Why do people expect perfect acting and perfect editing to tell a good story?

The acting was good enough and the editing was okay, but the story was really good.

It was also great seeing a movie without the gratuitous sex and foul language.

Well worth the time spent to enjoy a good story about good men dealing with a bad situation.