The Old Way

This is both a typical Nick Cage move and a solid Western. It's an unlikely combo, but welcome nonetheless. The plot is traditional: one act of violence leads to another, until our protagonists are led into a search for vengeance. The twist is that they're a father and his very young daughter. Cage does a satisfactory job as the emotionless killer who's not sure how to be a dad. Ryan Armstrong steals the show as his precocious daughter, who never bats an eye at danger. It's all fairly predictable, but good fun. The supporting performances are flavorful, especially Noah Le Gros as the villain and Nick Searcy as the crusty old marshal. My biggest complaint: I wish the film had been longer, and given us more time with these people. This is very much like the better Westerns that were cranked out by the dozens in the 1950s. Wish we had more of them today.

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After the relative success of Pig and The Unbearable weight of Massive Talent I thought I'd give a resurgent Cage another chance, in the hope this wouldn't be a return to his "phoned in" low budget roles of late. I'm genuinely baffled how he manages to act so sublimely in one movie then be so utterly atrocious in others. It seems like it must take more effort to ignore all his talents, training etc and act in such a wooden, almost spooflike fashion. That sums up his violent stoic man trying to be good role here though. As for the rest of the movie, it's so chocked full of tropes that it seems like a highlight reel of outtakes from low budget campy westerns. I'm struggling to find a single redeemable moment, I suppose the cinematography is ok. That's about as positive I can be.

Please no, I think Nick belongs in those action movies, such as Gone in 60 seconds or something, this isn't his forte. Just one of those actors that always sound and act the same, not his fault. The script, well, wait your turn before speaking lines, a plot that was pretty much thrown at you in the trailer and you have it all. Man seeks revenge, dons old gear after retirement, same old same old. As someone else described here, the skies change frequently, continuity is bad in this one. The scenes are nice but really do nothing but act as filler material and show us this is indeed out west. Save yourself 1hr:35mins and go out to dinner.

Director Brett Donowho and writer Carl W. Lucas brings us "The Old Way". Things start off with a typical spaghetti like western opening with a hanging. But a very violent escape attempt leaves many dead lining the streets. When the smoke clears a young boy Jimmy McCallister is seen mourning the death of his father among the carnage. All brought on by Colton Briggs (Nicolas Cage) who was a hired gunslinger who was brought on to this task that led to his fathers death. Now 20 years later, Colton is retired. He lives in a small cabin with his wife Ruth (Kerry Knuppe), and daughter, Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). He manages a small town store and leaves his violent past in the past. Their happiness is captured with stunning cinematography in the mountains of Montana. The scenery lays well matched with the easy laid back scenery soundtrack. This tranquility and happiness comes to a screeching hault quickly. A now grownup and outlaw James McCallister (Noah Le Gros),is bent on revenge. He returns wanting to settle the score with Colton. He and his gang bring trouble and death to the Briggs family. This occurs as Colton and his daughter are at the shop. Colton is unaware that his wife is being terrorized and eventually brutally killed back home. When Colton finds out what happened and who is responsible, him and his daughter are bent on revenge. I really like the twist of father daughter revenge and the young lady who portrays Colton's daughter is amazing. What could have Been your typical shot up revenge flick, brings more depth and compassion done like this. You will be rooting for the Briggs family to avenge their moms death. I found the performances and well written story a breath of fresh air compared to what we been getting. A good ole fashion western with one of my favorite actors worked well. I just also noticed this was Cages first western. He did well and hope to see more in this genre from him. Everything worked well but my favorite performance was from legendary Clint Howard. He plays an older member of the ruthless McCallister gang. They treat him badly and have no respect or care really about him. He is the smartest and fears Colton knowing his past. We look forward to all his appearances and wish we had more. He was a delight and fun to watch as always.

I like Nicolas Cage. I even managed to forgive him for that god-awful excuse for a southern accent in Con-Air. None of this excuses the fact that he sleepwalked through a film that had decent potential. Cage's brightest moments are in his scenes with Armstrong, but their father-daughter dynamic isn't enough to save the film. Let me be clear: the blame for The Old Way's shortcomings rests not only on Cage's shoulders, but also on Carl Lucas, for heavy-handed writing and poor character development. Lastly, the cast is decidedly B-level, with the exception of Nick Searcy, who shines as the Marshall, particularly in his scenes with Armstrong. Most grievous of all is the casting of Noah Le Gros as a wanna-be villain. Every good western has a good villain, and by that standard, The Old Way is decidedly subpar.

Colton Briggs (Nicolas Cage) is a bad man and cold blooded killer in the first scene. Twenty years later he runs a general store and is a family man who no longer touches a gun. When the grown son of a victim of his shows up with a gang, it is his wife that gets punished. The sheriff goes after the gang of outlaws and tells Colton to stay at home and care for his daughter. That is not what he does as he takes his daughter with him, teaching her to shoot along the way. They need to start putting red letter "Cage" warnings on his bad films. His acting was horrible in this production. The scene where he is talking to his daughter at the campfire was one of the worst I have seen him do. Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

I enjoy Westerns and I can tolerate some pretty cheap ones on Prime or Crackle too but this was not engaging. As others have said it is a walking cliche revenge flick but with stiff moments and bad or bizarre dialogue at times and veers into outright cringey on a couple of occasions. Wait until you get to the "fear" speech and devil speech. Cage isn't very good in it, "me psychopath, me tough, me disinterested, me no speak much" is a bit boring and has zero range. The addition of a potentially autistic or sociopathic child could have been interesting if the dialogue and plot were better, but it ain't. Up against an Oscar winner, Nick Searcy is the standout performance in the film but he was given little to work with. The kid has an acting future but her character just didn't engage me. Empathy disorders will do that. If you can get it for free give it a try but don't pay for it.