Sweetwater

This is how we like our Westerns in Europe! Lotsa guns, lotsa dead men and a prostitute who wins! Yeah baby, give it to us! The only problem is that we kinda do our own fights here in Europe with many more dead people, we kinda like to copy all that 45 caliber. Yumm! What do you say about film like that, then excellent! Acting very very good! Scenery very very good! Costumography very very good! All in all a helluva Western! Pull that 45! Many times over! ;)

January Jones plays the main lead in this and she is really great in this. Ed Harris also has a blast and the movie overall is a nice addition to the western genre. It has all the right ingredients (with added female nudity, which isn't something that is a given of course) and was obviously fun to shoot. The movie itself which was playing at the Fantasy Filmfest in Germany when I watched it, is predictable because of the known story line (even without me saying where this is going, you'll see it coming from a thousand miles). But the fun you can have with it, is still there, especially if you have a soft spot for Western movies in general

SWEETWATER is a nicely-done noirish parody of the old spaghetti western. Plot-wise, it's rather predictable, without many big surprises, but it keeps your attention and incorporates steady humor without turning into a complete slapstick joke. Best of all are the very colorful cast of characters: Crazy charlatan cult leader; beautiful, now-married former prostitute who's out to settle down and lead a quiet, simple life; unstable yet nobly maverick sheriff; perverted clothier; and a whole bunch of sheep who contribute a great deal to the story (really, they do). Intelligently simple entertainment--nothing to be taken too seriously. Great performances by Ed Harris (sheriff) and January Jones (former prostitute).

It started out real slow. From the reviews, I thought, well OK, if I don't like it, I can just stop watching. Like I said, it started out real slow. Maybe about midway, it got good, then better, then real good. It was like a thriller. The acting was superb by all. The villain made you hate him. His righteousness made you hate him even more. Great acting. Great background, the town and townspeople. All the characters were great. I won't spoil it and tell the ending but even the ending was great. I thought that it would end differently but it didn't and that even made it better. I thoroughly enjoyed this western. I haven't seen a good one in along time.

This western is good because it has simple details of everyday menial experiences brought into magnified observation like the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarentino incorporate into their films that people personally identify with. Very good writing and directing. The character behavior is realistic for the period with a unique cast of established actors that have a track record of rolls in unusual movies similar to No Country for Old Men. January Jones, Ed Harris, and Mr. Root, the judge, from Justified, add the quirky features you will find worth your time. This is a no-nonsense simple story of detective work with refreshing deviance from stupid Hollywood fare.

I did not watch this movie, I tasted it. Literally. A little gem. A masterpiece. An authentic masterpiece. It reminds me the first Coen Brother's film: BLOOD SIMPLE, back in 1984. Jason Isaacs gives here a powerful performance as the bad lead, as he did in PATRIOT, against Mel Gibson. His character reminds me Gene Hackman's one in Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN. Ed Harris brigs also his contribution to this exceptional good western. Very offbeat and also downbeat. All I love in a movie. A mix up of violence and humour. Dialogues that hit you in the face. A must see. I wait for the next director's film. This one is so gooooood !!!!!

As far as contemporary western goes, this one is very good. The obvious influence of There will be Blood and Terrence Malick can be annoying, especially in the opening sequences. But then the film find is own identity in a very dark, even macabre, humor and a very nihilistic view of human nature. It give some real piece of anthology, as when the pastor wake up to find the sheriff sitting at his kitchen table with two dead bodies he just digged out; or when Sarah shot a voyeuristic shop owner up the ass. The plot, as the title points out, is one of revenge, but it is not that important. Obviously, the director is more interested in characters and actors then storytelling. All the actors are fantastic, and are allowed to give creative, over the top performances. The result is both fun and unsettling to watch, even if it is sometime frustrating.

Spoiler contained in review. Enjoyed movie. The performances were excellent. A checklist for a proper revenge movie. And the last part of the movie, when you're thinking "no, don't turn your back", she finalizes the movie with a "that's what I would do!" moment. Could watch it again now. I too was at Sundance, but have a different take on the audience than that of mikefine-1, they enjoyed it. The audience in general was filled with motivated movie goers, and they cheered and agreed with the extermination of the mindless followers of evil, the pervert, the corrupt lawman, and the greedy banker. Not going to win an academy award, worth the time to watch.

In 1880s New Mexico, self-declared prophet Josiah (Jason Isaacs) is building a church on "God's land." Unfortunately, "God's land" is also inhabited by a farming couple, Miguel (Eduardo Noriega) and Sarah (January Jones), whose attempts to grow crops keep being stymied by Josiah's free-roaming flock of sheep. At the same time, two brothers who happen to be related to the Governor have gone missing, and it seems to lawman Sheriff Jackson (Ed Harris) that they must have disappeared right in the middle of Josiah's spread. The meeting and interactions between these characters will bring out their respective histories, misdemeanors and other crimes, and it's anyone's guess who might live to tell the tale.... Although I don't generally like Westerns, I was very impressed at FantAsia 2011 by "Blackthorn," in which Sam Shepard plays an aging Butch Cassidy (and Eduardo Noriega has a feature role, as in "Sweetwater"); I thought for sure Shepard would get lots of acting awards once the film played in wide release, but I don't think it ever got a wide release. Fearful of missing another great Western by assuming it would be in regular theatres any day, I made sure to catch "Sweetwater" this year and I'm glad I did! Ed Harris is amazing as the very eccentric, borderline crazy sheriff and Jason Isaacs is incredibly chilling as the definitely way-over-the-border psychotic preacher. But January Jones was just electric here; sure she looks gorgeous and makes most of the male characters drool, but she's thoroughly independent and absolutely fearless when she decides to take matters into her own hands. The landscape is breath-taking (and will make you thirsty just looking at it) and the story-telling is marvelous. I hope this has a better fate than "Blackthorn," because it deserves to be seen even by those, like me, who don't tend to like Westerns.

First, this has been released under the title "Sweet Vengeance"....classic western genera..if you liked Open Range, (Kostner, Duval, et al) you'll like this. January Jones plays the "lifeless" * trying to make a life on the hard scrabble of New Mexico. There is not much left that is going to get an emotional rise out of her, except her lover, there she is alive. She has probably seen it all and now has found someone to love and try and make a life with. Ed Harris, lawman, tracking down two lost brothers is almost a perfect 10, the rest of the supporting cast is excellent. It is well worth the watch.