Rust

I'm going to judge this movie based on its storytelling, acting, directing, and cinematography - not on what I think of Alec Baldwin as a person or the tragic incident onset.

Story: I think it was fine. It might not be the most compelling of story, but it was good enough for me - meaning it was engaging for the most part. There were some things that didn't make sense to me, but it's not a major gripe.

Acting: I liked everyone is this film. Even the kid(s) were ok. Shout out to Travis Fimmel - I'm glad he's getting better roles since the Viking series - Richard Gunn, and Francis Fisher. I felt that their portrayals were outstanding.

Directing: Also good, IMO. There weren't any fillers or wasted shots, I thought. The actions were quite good, as well - I knew where everyone was at all times and what was happening. As were the dialogues and the quieter moments.

Cinematography: Montana is simply beautiful. I wished there had been more wide vista shots, but it's a quibble. Generally, what we had were good and established well the period and locations.

Overall: 7.5.

A 13-year-old boy, forced to care for his younger brother after their parents' death, faces the noose for an accidental killing. His only hope - a hardened, estranged grandfather who spirits him away on a dangerous journey into new Mexico.

Director Joel Souza crafts tense, understated set pieces and character-driven exchanges, wisely letting his actors carry the film's emotional heft on the back drop for real locations and great sets.

Cinematographers Bianca Cline and Halyna Hutchins deliver outstanding work here, giving the film a crisp, high-budget sheen with sweeping vistas and intimate character moments that ground the drama. Like it or not, the heavy grim colour timing adds to the mood as the leads encounter a variety of characters on the way.

Alec Baldwin leads as dangerous Harland Rust, the grizzled outlaw, while Patrick Scott McDermott portrays Lucas Hollister. The young McDermott impresses with a grounded, emotionally resonant performance. Travis Fimmel delivers a menacing turn as bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang, and Josh Hopkins is notable in as U. S. Marshal Wood Helm. Frances Fisher adds depth as Lucas's grand-aunt, while Jake Busey also appears. Baldwin offers a solid performance as Rust, reminding viewers of his ability to inhabit morally grey characters with ease.

The acting across the board is first-rate, with the child actors particularly standing out for their naturalistic performances. Composers James Jackson and Lilie Bytheway-Hoy provide a restrained, evocative score that supports the film's mood without overplaying it.

From the outset, there's a clear emphasis on firearms, which feels a touch ironic given the tragic on-set death of Halyna Hutchins that shadowed this production. Yet, at its core, Rush is a Western - and guns, rifles, and frontier lawlessness remain intrinsic to the genre's DNA, whether or not the Second Amendment feels relevant today.

Overall, Rush may not rewrite the Western rulebook, but it delivers a well-crafted, visually striking entry into the genre - one that feels both classic and modern in its execution. It's a pity it landed straight to VOD.

This is a solid western, the story keeps you engaged and invested in the characters and where the story is going to lead them. The acting, costumes, sets, everything was superb. Where this falls short is the story, it keeps you entertained to the end but just falls short of being a classic you'd want to rewatch and discuss. I feel its lacking a twist or a callback to tie the story together, as is, its more a progression of events. Something like if the kids fancy rifle ended up moving through a few hands, perhaps when the bounty hunters fight each other the survivor claims it only to die in the next fight enforcing its 'curse', and then was used in a key moment at the end to save or kill the kid and he gets it back, or some other twist. It doesnt need to be big, just a little spice in an otherwise impressive film.

Set in 1882 in the Wyoming Territory, Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott) despite his young age looks after both his younger brother Jacob (Easton Malcolm) and his family homestead after the loss of his mother to fever and his father to suicide. When Lucas accidentally shoots another homesteader with whom he had a feud due to his sons bullying his brother, Lucas is arrested and sentenced by a local jury to be hung by the neck until dead. The night before Lucas' execution, a stranger named Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin) storms the jail and takes Lucas with him and reveals himself to be Lucas' grandfather who has lived his life on the run as an outlaw. As the two travel southward with Harland intent on getting Lucas to safety in Mexico, the two are marked with $1,000 bounty which puts them in the sights of opportunistic bounty hunters including fanatically driven Fenton "Preacher" Lang (Travis Fimmel) and disillusioned U. S. Marshall Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) who following the death of his son to fever has lost his belief in justice.

Rust is a 2024 western film written and directed by Joel Souza from a story written by star and producer Alec Baldwin. The film marks the second time Souza and Baldwin have worked together as Baldwin had actually served as a producer on Souza's previous film Crown Vic which Baldwin had been slated to star in before contractual obligations saw him vacate the role. Eager to work with Souza again, the two collaborated on Souza's screenplay Rust which although initially written as a father/son story was rewritten to being about a grandfather so Baldwin could play the role. Shot as an independent production, Rust became the subject of a real-life tragedy and media storm when a prop gun provided by the film's armorer turned out to be loaded with real ammunition and wounded director Souza and fatally shot director of photography Halyna Hutchins. This incident resulted in renewed discussions about safety on film sets. I really don't want to rehash this as there's been enough of that with those involved as well as the inexcusable vulture like behaviors of cultural parasites who couldn't care less about those affected and only cared about generated hackneyed, regurgitated and insensitive memes to earn points in stupid culture wars while completely uncaring about the actual people whose lives were ended by this tragedy (one can only imagine the indignities Brandon Lee or Vic Morrow would endure had their tragedies happened today). Despite this and the civil and criminal legal fallout that befell the production, Rust resumed shooting due to contractual obligations with proceeds of the film's revenue going to Hutchins' survivors. After a long protracted road to release, Rust is certainly a handsomely produced and well-acted western, but it's also one where it owes a heavy debt to prior films of the genre.

When the film started I have to say that I was intrigued by the premise as it focused on young teenager Lucas taking care of his younger brother Jacob in the wake of their parents' death. Patrick Scott McDermott makes his film debut here having previously done some stage and TV work and he's honestly really good in the role and you buy him trying to be both a caring brother while also trying to serve as a parental figure to his brother Jacob. Honestly the first act is so good and so unique among westerns I honestly kind of wished that it had been more greatly expanded because it feels like it could've been a movie in and of itself but it's basically just used for setup before the actual story takes place later. Once Alec Baldwin's Harland Rust enters the film and rescues Lucas from jail, the movie basically ditches the setup of its opening act and only really circles back to it in the last few minutes. While Baldwin is good in the role of Rust playing an aging and hardened outlaw who now seeks to do one good thing to make up for a life of aimless drifting and violence, it basically leads to a mash-up of Unforgiven by way of News of the World. While the whole "coming of age"/emotional thaw arc they do with Lucas and Harland is decently acted, it does kind of feel clumsily grafted on when the first act established Lucas as someone who had taken on more adult roles before his time out of necessity even if it lead to things like the accidental death the instigated the plot so there's something of a schism between the first and second act that never feels fully resolved.

Intermixed with the scenes of Harland and Lucas are two other plots one involving a fanatical Christian bounty hunter named Fenton "Preacher" Lang played by Vikings alum Travis Fimmel and he's a really solid antagonist who carries himself as a man of faith while also indulging in all manner of sadistic or vile appetites while taking pride in his family history as slave catchers prior to the Civil War and it's a fun performance that calls to mind Robert Mitchum's iconic role as "Preacher" Harry Powell from The Night of the Hunter but he really doesn't show up as a direct threat to Harland and Lucas until the last act so he's massively underutilized as an antagonist. Then we have arguably the third lead in Josh Hopkins' Wood Helm, the burned out U. S. Marshall who's tracking Harland and Lucas and unlike the various other bounty hunters or opportunists the two encounter Helm takes no joy or even pride in his work and just does it because it's the only thing he does have after years of chasing outlaws and losing his son has eroded his will. In theory he's supposed to be something of a mirror to Harland where Harland carries the weight of years of outlaw violence, Wood carries the weight of dispatching justice of the Law with no real sense of pride or accomplishment because nothing ever became better from what he did. While I understand thematically while he's here, as a character in the plot he often feels extraneous and while some of the interactions between him and his posse are engaging, they also create a very staccato rhythm in the flow of the story without much payoff character-wise for him.

Rust is a movie that clearly had grand ambitions, but it's also a story that suffers from being overly familiar and too unfocused and leaves its most promising elements unexplored while favored the more traveled path. It's well-acted and beautifully shot (partially credited to the final work of Hutchins) and assuming you are a fan of westerns there's plenty here to appreciate. In the shadow of a terrible tragedy, Rust emerges as a flawed film with interesting ideas that are placed secondary to familiar tropes.

Although Rust starts off with a slower pace and a few rough edges-some scenes admittedly reveal the film's limited budget-it steadily gains momentum, evolving into a compelling story of family, redemption, and grit. What begins as a modest Western transforms into a character-driven narrative with emotional depth and moral complexity.

Alec Baldwin delivers a surprisingly nuanced performance as the flawed but fascinating deuteragonist. He brings an authenticity to the role that makes his character both detestable and oddly sympathetic, a balance that few actors can pull off so effectively. The film's attention to period detail adds a strong sense of place, immersing viewers in a time when justice and loyalty often came at a high price.

While Rust may face criticism, much of it will likely miss the film's strengths like its cast and the emotionally satisfying arc it ultimately delivers. For fans of the Western genre looking for something a bit off the beaten path, Rust is absolutely worth the watch.