The Last Son

Sombre, grim and slow The Last Son drags itself to an inevitable ending like a terminal disease. There's never any doubt how this little slice of misery is going to end but despite only running for 92 minutes it seems a lot longer. The cast crawl through every scene as if on the verge of collapse through exhaustion. There is no light and dark here, only inky blackness made even deeper by the constant howling wind and jarring electronic soundtrack. It's all been done before and a lot better too, 2005's "The Proposition" springs to make mind. Track down that movie and give this one a miss.

Even a half-decent cast couldn't save this drearily paced script. (I say half-decent because although Thomas Jane has been in some good movies, neither Sam Worthington nor Heather Graham ever need to get excited around Oscar nomination time).

The story itself seemed a little stupid as well. Worthington is cursed that he will be killed by one of his offspring (should have kept it in his pants) so he kills them off first before they get a chance to do him. It seems like most of them were totally unaware of who he was anyway, so if he had just left well alone, he needn't have worried. By going out of his way to find them, he actually puts himself at risk. The story was so slow and dreary that I ended up fast-forwarding through most of it. Even so, I knew what the ending was going to be. I rated it a generous 3 (and one of those was because of the cameo appearance by Heather Graham's nipples!).

I love Westerns, but there have been some absolutely dire ones released in the past couple of years. I am keeping my fingers crossed that "1883" will live up to expectations.

I was able to enjoy this movie in that the scenery was quite good and Sam Worthington's acting was excellent. However, the plot fails to pass the reality test in several ways - which I won't go into for the sake of avoiding spoilers.

If you like the western genre and are ok with minimalist dialogue, you'll probably find this movie enjoyable.

In dark western "The Last Son" hoarse bearded professional killer Sam Worthington is cursed by the Cheyenne to die by his own child - so resolves to slay them all, most notably equally psychotic outlaw Machine Gun Kelly (son of prostitute Heather Graham) and his quiet half-sister Emily Marie Palmer: who both independently aim to kill the old man first. Meanwhile, over the same harsh cold landscapes that they track each other, lawman Thomas Jane hunts Kelly. Paths cross & bodies pile as it winds (a bit slowly) to showdown. There've been better recent westerns, but director Tim Sutton, writer Greg Johnson & the notable cast do a decent job. Not so bad.

The movie wasn't the worst I've seen but far from the best. The scenery was beautiful. I think the cast did the best they could with a lackluster script. Sam Worthington was excellent and I found Colson Baker to be excellent as well. Heather Graham fell short for me but it could be the role. I would have enjoyed a bit more character development and background about the prophecy. It is best described as a Greek tragedy set in the western genre. Too bad the full potential of the story and cast wasn't utilized. I still recommend watching it. It is only around 95 minutes.