Blackthorn

Great outdoor cinematography highlight this darn good Western. The story of an aging outlaw returning home is engaging and the morality tale is delivered decisively. It has a number of dramatic details that make it believable (taking a slice of meat off the dead horse and roasting it on the campfire). In all the expanse of the Bolivian landscape the humanity and characterizations are not lost and we care about Butch Cassidy, his lady love, and even the ex-Pinkerton who discovers, then assists our anti-hero on his way to settle the score. All the elements of classic Westerns are at work here and the pace is methodical and maintained for a rhythmic ride. The gun-play is realistic and never stylized and the result is a new Western with an old West feel.

I grew up watching westerns, and Butch and Sundance must be up there with my favorite bank robbers. I still love a good western but Hollywood seems to be to busy with re-makes of all kinds, vampires that live in sun light type films, over done special effects galore films, and cheap ass horror film after cheap ass horror film. So I was happy to see this film coming out, good cast, great story, and fantastic scenery to boot! I am not to sure about the stories take on Butch, but besides that I really enjoyed it, the scenery was fantastically caught on film, the story moves at a nice pace, and at times really hit a nerve with me about life, friends that have come and gone, and growing old, and looking back at what we might have done different. Anyway I enjoyed this film, not a Oscar winner, but well worth it, solid acting by all actors, I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

"One day I woke up and found myself alone. Seemed like everyone I knew was dead or in jail, they thought I was dead too." After writing for years to her son, James Blackthorn (Shepherd) hears about Etta's death. Wanting to see his home one last time he heads out. When he meets a young robber on the trail he forms a type of friendship. The young robber begins to realize that the old man is not who he says he is, he may be riding with Butch Cassidy. This is one of the best westerns to come out in the last few years (along with "Meek's Cutoff) and is that way for one reason. Sam Shepherd is fantastic in this role. Much like Sam Elliot, Shepherd is born to be in westerns. A mix of present day and flashback scenes make this movie riveting and you are questioning if he is really Butch or not. Weather you are a fan of westerns or not this is one movie that you should watch. Overall, one of, if not the best westerns to come out in the last 5 years. Great acting by Shepherd helps. I give it a B+. *Also try - Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid & Meek's Cutoff

Butch Cassidy didn't die! Both he and the Sundance Kid somehow made it out alive at the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and escaped certain death at the hands of the Bolivian Army. Flash forward 20 years and Butch, now known as James Blackthorn (Sam Shepard), is still in Bolivia and living a quiet life breeding horses and enjoying the scenery. However, James knows it's time to sell what he has and return home to the U.S. He is not young anymore, heck; he is not even middle aged anymore. There are some people he wants to see back in America but wouldn't you just know it, now that James is trying to leave, local events unexpectedly descend right on his head and he gets mired in a side quest of money and revenge before he can finally go home. His sidekick this time is Eduardo Apodaca (Eduardo Noriega), a Spanish engineer who just stole a huge sum of money from the regional mining magnate and has not only a large bounty on his head, but a posse of extremely irritated tough guys on his tail. James and Eduardo get tangled up together as only two people can in the middle of nowhere Bolivia and they start working together to get the money and stay alive. But what happened in the 20 years from when we last left Butch Cassidy and what happened to the Sundance Kid? These events are slowly uncovered through flashbacks where young Butch (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) and Sundance (Padraic Delaney) are first back in the U.S., make their way to Argentina, and finally Bolivia where it somewhat tells how they got out of that tricky business. Also in the flashbacks is a Pinkerton agent, McKinley (Stephen Rea), who chased the two bandits from the U.S. to South America. The Blackthorn screenplay was written by Miguel Barros, his first fiction credit, but could have been written by the Bolivian Tourism Office. Shot in Bolivia, the scenery should garner its own supporting actor credit. The camera lingers of high mountains, lush plains and valleys, winding rivers, and even barren salt flats. Frequently, James will sit down, stare at his surroundings, and mention to whomever he is with at the time just how gorgeous Bolivia is. Directed by Mateo Gil, known more for his writing (The Sea Inside, Open Your Eyes, Vanilla Sky), Blackthorn brought Butch Cassidy back to life, but did it really need to? According to this script, there was no need for a Butch Cassidy sequel right after the 1908 events with the Bolivian Army because Butch didn't do anything except disappear into the countryside and settle down. Now the camera is back on him because of this Eduardo business. However, the whole mess is so blatantly contrived and small minded that the plot is just an excuse to bring back a very famous character. Also, it has briefly revived the moribund careers of Sam Shepard and Stephen Rea, two talented actors who do not receive very many scripts anymore. Shepard has popped up in very small roles recently in Fair Game and Brothers while Rea was more or less last seen in V for Vendetta and a 2009 episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. It is a shame that not only does the Blackthorn script severely let down its predecessor, but when two aging actors finally get the chance to show they still have what it takes to carry a film, they are saddled with this one.

Blackthorn is an estimable contribution to Western movies. Contrary to the American style, here the epic it's illustrated in a less gimmicky way. There's not apotheosis at the endings of the sequences with a high emotional music theme. Poetry it's in the words, the silences, the landscapes and the development of the characters. Apparently it's a traditional story about compensation with the past, but there's much more. An a-la-Hawks representation of male friendship, a social message, a nostalgic review of classic Western and two little twists in the story that avoid a possible predictable ending. Very interesting it's the Mateo Gil's choice, in opposition to the Roy Hill movie, to show Bolivia as a wide open country. While Roy Hill, in the 1969 movie, shoot the South American scenes in a cloistered vision -to give them a claustrophobic value that works as allegory of the characters mood- in contrast with the North American scenes, Gil hasn't renegade to shoot the desert, the wide plains and even the canyons from Bolivia brought out by the brilliant cinematography of Ruíz Anchía. Perhaps there're a couple of moments that the narrative pace goes down in contemplative scenes, but overall the rhythm and the story will keep your attention. Great works of Sam Shephard, Eduardo Noriega, Stephen Rea and Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau. You would like Blackthorn if you like Unforgiven, Appaloosa, Open Range or, of course, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but not if your taste it's nearest to The Quick and the Dead, Young Guns I or II, or Cowboys & Aliens.

This Spanish picture is an enjoyable drama Western with an interesting characterizing about the celebrated leader of the ¨Wild Bunch gang¨ of train robbers , Butch Cassidy who along with Sundance Kid were one of the last old-style bandits of the West and they had the quick wit and strength of character to dominate more desperate men . In Bolivia, Butch Cassidy who left long time ago his criminal activity and now calling himself James Blackthorne (Sam Shepard) , pines for one last sight of home , an adventure that aligns him with a young robber (Eduardo Noriega) and makes the duo a target for gangs and lawmen alike . It's narrated by means of a relentless pursuit by a posse which leads to the two protagonists through wonderful Bolivian landscapes . Furthermore , it deals with young Butch Cassidy (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau as James joven) , Sundance Kid (Padraic Delaney) and Etta Place (Dominique McElligott) , whose scenes are developed in flashbacks , both of them when the Pinkerton and railroad agents (Stephen Rea) hot on their trail , the Wild Bunch broke up and both sailed to South America after the turn of century and disappeared there , possibly dying in a shoot-out in 1909 near La Paz , though the story here narrated is quite different . The film contains human drama , thrills , violence , riding pursuits and action Western complemented with moving tension and intrigue , including some twists and turns . These elements provide the setting for this piece of dramatic Western , giving it its own special quality and ambient . Butch is described as a tired veteran though a crack shot, he never murdered anybody and disliked gratuitous violence , he only wishes returning to US and know his son . Top-notch acting by Sam Shepard as the old bandit who becomes drawn into a spiraling tangle of danger , deceit and confusion . Acceptable interpretation by Eduardo Noriega as a young mine engineer who holds a dark secret . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Juan Ruiz Anchia who has been making a prestigious career in Hollywood , such as Close range , House of game and River runs black , here he shows splendidly the wonderful outdoors filmed on location in La Paz , Potosí , Uyuni, Bolivia . Sensitive as well as thrilling musical score by Lucio Godoy . This exciting motion picture was well directed by Mateo Gil . Mateo is a notorious screenwriter , he wrote various films for Amenabar as ¨Agora¨ , ¨Mar Adentro¨ , ¨Abre Los Ojos¨ and ¨Tesis¨ . He only has directed ¨Nobody knows anybody¨ or ¨Nadie Conoce Nadie¨ and recently this Western titled ¨Blackthorn¨ . Rating : Above average movie for its intrigue , memorable performance , plot twits , atmospheric mood piece and impressive photography . Well worth watching .

Greetings again from the darkness. George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of my all-time favorites. Action, adventure, gun play, wise-cracking, romance, charming lead actors, and a touch of western legend, all combine for a very entertaining film. Spanish screenwriter and director Mateo Gil (s/p, The Sea Inside) takes up the story 20 years from the infamous freeze frame that ended Hill's 1969 film. Sure, you might need suspension of disbelief since we all remember the hundreds of Bolivian soldiers firing at once when Butch and Sundance attempted their escape, but this film is really more about aging and trying to put things right. The Butch we are first introduced to is writing a letter to the son of Etta Place, after her death. He writes that it's time to come home - meaning he is to leave the quiet life in rural Bolivia and make the long journey back to the U.S. This aging "Uncle Butch" we meet is played by the great Sam Shepard. Mr. Shepard is not just a Pulitzer winning writer, but he has always had an incredibly strong screen presence ... a wonderful face and trustworthy voice. Here is in full grizzled cowboy mode and sports the bright eyes we remember from Paul Newman, while displaying a newfound peace raising horses in the Bolivian countryside. He lives this life as James Blackthorn, not Butch Cassidy. He even has a relationship with one of the local ladies, who seems filled with the spirit that Butch had as a younger man. Blackthorn collects his savings from the bank ... a bit ironic, eh? He sets off on the journey, but is quickly knocked off course thanks to the recklessness of a Spainish thief played by Eduardo Noriega. Noriega says he can makes things right and the two form an unlikely team. Of course, Butch has become more trusting in his old age, and Noriega turns out not to be the partner than Sundance once was. This whole story is a bit outlandish, but it's at its best when Blackthorn runs smack dab into Makinley, one of the old Pinkerton men who was chasing him twenty years ago. Turns out, Makinley (Stephen Rea) is a social outcast because he was the only one who thought the boys survived that attack so many years ago. Seems both Makinley and Blackthorn have been cast aside and trapped in Bolivia. While Shepard is outstanding, he shares star billing with the terrain of Bolivia. It definitely holds its own versus the Monument Valley we have seen in so many westerns over the years. The salt flats are particularly beautiful and treacherous, and filmed with skill by the director. We are also treated to periodic flashbacks and a few of the key moments for Butch, Sundance and Etta. We learn that the partnership was truly that ... one for all. This film will have little box office success, but it's certainly worth a look for those of you intrigued by the Butch and Sundance legend, and are able to wonder just WHAT IF ....

I like westerns, I liked "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", so I was intrigued by this movie. What a disappointment! The link to the original serves no artistic purpose, but rather an economic one - i.e. to get suckers like me to watch it. In a tip of the hat to the original classic, a few completely random "flashback" scenes are peppered without logic throughout the movie, but that's about it. The movie is decently played and shot, but the story is weak, contrived and frankly unconvincing. The movie's weird and preachy ending (and I do consider myself a liberal!) and the fake and self-serving link to a great classic western are a complete turnoff.

An aging Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard), now calling himself Blackthorn and living a quiet life in 1920s Bolivia, learns that Etta Place has died in San Francisco, living her young son behind, to whom Butch has long been writing in the guise of "Uncle Butch." He decides to travel back to the States to see his "nephew," and sets off with the blessings of his indigenous girlfriend Yana (Magaly Solier). Early on, however, he comes across Eduardo (Eduardo Noriega), a young Spanish man on the run from a posse after he stole a lot of money from an evil mine-owner. Eduardo's horse is dead and he is lost, and he begs Blackthorn to help him; somewhat against his will, Blackthorn does so, and they set off on a last grand adventure, together. But Eduardo isn't all that he seems, and in addition to the posse, an old broken-down Pinkerton man, Mackinley (Stephen Rea), is also aware that Butch Cassidy didn't die all those years ago.... I'm not big on Westerns usually, but this is an exception. Beautifully filmed on location in Bolivia, and employing numerous indigenous actors, we are also treated to flashback scenes of a younger Butch (played as a young man by Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau, who looks very much like a younger Sam Shepard), his friend the Sundance Kid (Padraic Delaney) and their mutual love Etta Place (Dominique McElligot), which deepen and enrich the larger story. I'm not sure why this screened at FantAsia, as it's not really genre, but perhaps it's because the director, Mateo Gil (making his English-language debut here), is known for earlier Spanish thrillers that were screened in earlier years. In any event, I'm very glad that I saw this unusual Western, which I believe will get a regular release later this year.

Westerns are all about cinematography, and Blackthorn is no exception. Wide, sweeping vistas are the order of the day -- but this time, they're something new: South America, and in particular, Bolivia. This tale of an aging-exiled American outlaw and his attempts to return home may seem a bit straightforward and tame, but in the end it's not and you'll be glad to have spend the hour and forty-five minutes partaking in this latest great example of the genre. The directing isn't too bad either and the actors generally deliver their lines well, although a few are a bit over-read. For a modern western that's not an adolescent fantasy and has a great deal of heart, it gets 9/10.