The Stolen

source: The Stolen

Not sure about the negative "western" comments as if the US was the only place that ever had horses and gold towns. We thought the story, the acting and the scenery were all quite good.

New Zealand western style lacked depth but some intensity. I'd hoped they would avoid the Hollywood culture of blasphemy against Jesus but no, they are equal to the task! Our sad, evil pop culture!

I didn't know what to expect from this movie but I enjoyed. It could have been a lot better if they had developed the characters a lot more as well as the story.

I do understand why other reviewers haven't enjoyed this movie as much as I did. I needed to know what happened and wished the ending had included more of what happened next. I thoroughly enjoyed the the beautiful scenery, wonderful costumes and general plot but felt a stronger script would have improved the story line. A lot of unutilised potential here.

An intriguing beginning -- you know the type that inspires you to put the movie on pause while you sneak away to microwave some popcorn and hurry back to tap the pause button again. Wow! the film even starts off with a specific year, signaling a well researched historical background to an era in New Zealand few know about. And double Wow! the producer was endowed with a $4 million budget to get really creative. Alas, the popcorn turned out to be more interesting than The Stolen. Hanni Calder, the 1971 western heroine, did a 360 in her grave. The promise was a revenge thriller about a sophisticated aristocrat using her London smarts to outfox a group of grunting bumpkins in the mindless wastelands of 19th century New Zealand. That was the promise. Well you now know what was delivered -- a cliche and a disappointing one at that. No surprise the film has only taken in $27,741 so far.

While the costumes and sets are great, especially the detail of the female costumes, the poor faithfulness to the reality of New Zealand's Indigenous People is far too whitewashed. I would have more enjoyed seeing a full-blooded looking wahine in the tent village, instead of the poor rendition of one that we are presented with. Whole I adore Stan Walker and enjoyed the spirit and energy he convincingly conveyed throughout the whole film, the inaccuracies of what Maori were in 1800s NZ was insulting to me and the scene of the bullet removal was just pathetic... A real shame as with a little more care this could have been a cool film. I also would have liked to have seen displayed the huge endurance the settlers had to have in colonising the country and where gravel and pine were on set, mud and native trees would have been much better. Cohen was a convincing baddie.

Dull Western set in New Zealand in which posh English woman Alice Eve joins a troop of whores in order to search for her stolen baby son. Sets that are about as realistic as a 40s Western, wafer-thin characterisations, a plot that goes nowhere for a good hour, and sub-standard acting from a host of second-tier TV actors.

I don't like westerns, which is probably why I love this modern western trend that traditional western fans hate so much. But I wasn't really loving the idea of watching a western about a forlorn woman running around looking for her lost baby. I'm not a baby person. Like, I get the concept of a heartsick mother looking for her lost child, but as a childfree woman in her 30s who is perpetually icked out by motherhood, I just wasn't sure this was the modern day western for me. I liked the time period and the location, and the strong female lead though, so I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did. It was fun and engaging. It had its plot holes, like most movies, but I really liked it. Gotta say though, that was one ugly baby. The moment I saw it I thought, Jesus let the dude have it and just start over! I'm sure you could make a cuter one... Yikes...

The first act is pretty good and succeeds in engaging the viewer. But as the plot unravels it gets harder to stay engaged as disbelief sets in. Several interesting plot points are introduced but never resolved. The best part is the scenery, it is very beautiful to look at, with majestic mountains and rich flora. It is New Zealand after all. I kept looking for Frodo to pop in for a cameo. The presentation of frontier life in the fringes of civilization was also interesting, and illustrated very well the randomness of death that could surprise even the seasoned and experienced, Alice Eve does a great job with the starring part as the distraught mother, but as the story collapses there is not much she can do. But the scenery and the dangers by themselves does not make a god movie. The last 30 minutes steadily go downhill until the weak ending. Side note, a better movie with Alice Eve is Replica, with Keanu Reeves. That one is a 7.5 .