The Duel

I think most people would have expected more form a movie starring Woody Harrison and Liam Hemsworth,both who were in The Hunger Games together, but it was a pretty plain, low budget kind of thing that happen to have a really good story to it.

Hemsworth plays a Texas Ranger who is sent after a man killing Mexicans in a small town he runs, and just by coincidence, this same man killed his father 20 years ago in a strange ritual of code of honor from the town they are from. Making matters worse is the fact that this Texas Ranger brings with him his Mexican Wife just because she complained about having nothing to do around the house while he's gone, and she ends up being put under the religious spell this man has got on some of the townsfolk.

Hemsworth plays a decent cowboy. Not as dashing as his older brother, Chris as he goes for more of the Clint Eastwood type. Woody Harrison is a good villain in the film. It's similar to his work in the film, Out of the Furnace.

But I really like the grim story that the Western told about the treatment of the Mexicans after the borderline for Texas was created.

Overall it was a brilliant western that had no frills just a great story with some good actors telling the tale

I was really impressed by this great movie and the low rating seems totally unjustified to me. Sometimes you see a painting where it is not the content that catches your eye, but the way that it is painted. I would say that i have that experience with this movie: a well crafted piece of art. The acting is superb, the sound, music and scenery fit well together and create the perfect atmosphere for this story. Not a complex or spectacular story, but intriguing, and beautifully painted. Absolutely a must see for those who appreciate quality.

Texas Ranger David Kingston (Helmsworth) is sent undercover to a Texas town to investigate why Mexicans are turning up dead.

What you will see: Marisol (Alice Braga), David's wife, insisting she go with David on his undercover mission, bloody hand-to-hand fighting, a variation of The Most Dangerous Game, a town under the grip of Cult Leader Abraham (Harrelson), an unexplained betrayal, a prayer meeting where snakes are handled by everyone, and pure racism.

I was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing another western, but I didn't expect the cruelty. This has to do with a variation of The Most Dangerous Game and you will be as shocked as I was. I am always surprised at some of the really sick things people do to others. There seems to be a tendency for Hollywood to go beyond normal good guy- bad guy plots and this is what we get.

The acting all around is very good, but we didn't expect the script to center around a variation of The Most Dangerous Game. This is where a good western turns into something not so good. And the unexpected betrayal seemed well out of place. (Aren't betrayals always unexpected?)

Notables: William Sadler as Governor Ross; Emory Cohen as Isaac, Abraham's brother; Raphael Sbarge as Dr. Morris; and Sue-Lynn Ansari as the Saloon Woman.

Sad to say, but this is a not for everyone Western. (5/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, some not too often.

"We cannot separate ourselves from sin anymore than we can sever a limb from our bodies." There has been a rash of unexplained deaths In the small town of Helena, Texas. With no clue as to what is going on, David Kingston (Hemsworth), a Ranger is sent to investigate. When he arrives he discovers some strange characters including Abraham (Harrelson). The more David investigates the more he questions what is happening. This is a movie that had a chance to be really good. The cast is A-list and the plot is interesting. Where the movie fails is the pacing. This is just agonizingly slow that it made it really hard to pay attention to and I was really starting to drift and lose interest in. There are some interesting parts in this but a lot of the drama was lost on me because I struggled to stay involved in what was going on. Overall, a disappointing western that had a chance to be good but was just too slow and boring for me to get invested in. I give this a C-.

A number of citizens of Mexican origins are disappearing and the bodies, some of them, have been found floating in the Rio Grande. A Mexican general played by Jose Zuniga is threatening to do a Pancho Villa and cross the border as his niece is one of the missing. That prompts the Governor of Texas to dispatch one of his best Texas Rangers, Liam Hemsworth to a remote region to investigate a town called Helena.

A former Confederate colonel Woody Harrelson is a Reverend Jim Jones like character who holds sway there. Hemsworth has his work cut out for them, more than he could ever conceive.

There are certainly elements of The Most Dangerous Game here, but add to that the cult like devotion that Harrelson enjoys. Plus he's making good money for himself and the town of Helena with his most dangerous game. He's opened it up as a business, it's clear that the Mexicans are substitutes for black people as I'm sure the word is out to avoid the area and Mexicans are plentiful across the river.

None of the drama in that original Most Dangerous Game is present here. Harrelson is a compelling figure, Australian Hemsworth is convincing as a Texan.

The whole thing falls way short of a classic and even as a western, most western fans will find this way to weird.