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American
Outlaws
Starring:
Colin Farrel, Scott Caan, Ali Larter, et al
Director: Les Mayfield
Rating: PG-13
Review
Posted: 4.25.02
By
John Teves.
This
film begins with Jesse James and his last gun fight in the Civil
War. After fighting the Yanks at the end of the Civil War, Jesse
decides it’s time to hang up his guns and go back home to live
a peaceful life on his ma’s farm, but when the James brothers
and their cousins from the Younger family arrive back home, they
are disappointed to discover that trouble's-a-brewin' back at
the ranch…
As
the story continues, a big bad railroad tycoon, his agents, and
a special group of detectives are using the government's
approval as clout to persuade the locals to sell their land
cheap. Although none of the boys are willing to accept the
offer, Cole Younger (Scott Caan) expresses his disapproval by
killing a couple of the prospective purchasers and burnin’
some farms. To save their cousin's neck from the noose, the
cocky quick-draw Jesse (Colin Farrell) and his book-learned,
sharp-shooting brother Frank (Gabriel Macht) decide to wage a
private war to derail the mogul's progress.
Stunt
#562
Forming
the James-Younger Gang they begin holding up banks and blowing
up tracks, which supplies plenty of gun fighting opportunities.
They also wisely buy support and good will (and audience
sympathy) by sharing their take with the general population.
Although the cunning and patient Detective Pinkerton (Timothy
Dalton) is in charge of the railroad's resistance, the biggest
threat to the gang's survival may be an emerging leadership
power struggle between Jesse and Cole.
Of
course for all you western historians out there one would say
that American Outlaws is a loose interpretation of the story of
Jesse James, portrayed here by Colin Farrell. Director Les
Mayfield says he was reluctant to cast the Dublin actor as the
American outlaw Jesse James, of course
"The idea of an Irish person playing Jesse James didn't
seem right” until Mayfield met Colin, he says. "Then I
couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather have as the star of the
movie. He personifies the spirit of the gentleman outlaw."
If that’s what Les was looking for, then he succeeded
in this film.
Colin’s
character of Jesse portrays that nice guy, somewhat
compassionate character, in reality he really should go ahead
and pull a "Matrix" on some ones ass (which he does) but
after every shoot out I was waiting to here Jesse say something
like, "oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to really kill you that
way."
I
do agree with one reviewer who said "I think the entire cast
should've been locked in a room and forced to watch The
Good, The Bad and The Ugly followed by The
Outlaw Josey Wales and concluding with Unforgiven
to really get a good understanding of how to play an outlaw."
That would have worked nicely.
American
Outlaws appears in an aspect ratio of aspect ratio: 1.77:1 on
this single-sided, dual-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced
for 16X9 televisions.
The film had outstanding picture quality that consistently
looked absolutely terrific.
"Transfer
all the money to our Swiss account!"
Sharpness
appeared virtually immaculate throughout the film. Even during
wide shots, I saw no signs of softness or fuzziness, the movie
remained crisp and well-defined. The picture overall consisted
of accurate images that always seemed detailed and distinct. No
problems with effects or jagged edges and print flaws also
caused no concerns. If any examples of grain, grit, speckles or
other defects showed up during the movie, I didn’t see them; I
thought this was a very clean and fresh presentation.
The
colors virtually leaped off the screen and they consistently
appeared tight and accurate with no signs of bleeding or noise.
Black levels also looked nicely deep and dark, and shadow detail
seemed to be appropriately heavy but not excessively thick.
Low-light situations always came across so that they maintained
a realistic appearance but weren’t overly shaded. Ultimately, American Outlaws provided a visual experience.
Subtitles:
English, French, Spanish
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround: English
Dolby
Digital Surround: English French
DTS
5.1 Surround Sound: English
All
five channels received a strong workout during the film, as both
effects and music made good use of the discrete capabilities.
The music score blasted nicely from all of the speakers on both
DD 5.1 and DTS, the rears offered very positive reinforcement of
the music that made the track nicely involving. Surround usage also came to the front during the film’s action
sequences. These provided a strong five-channel experience as
gunfire, explosions and other dynamic elements popped up all
around me, especially during the First chapter.
Localization
seemed to be positive, and effects moved nicely across channels.
The sound field spread out the imagery well and created a fine
environment. All of the loud elements appeared broad and
engaging, Bass response was deep and tight, and the many action
sequences gave the subwoofer a nice workout. As a matter of
fact, I think the neighbors liked it too!
Featurette:
“ The making of American Outlaws”, “Creating the Old
West”, “ How to be an Outlaw” and “Costuming the
Cowboys”, Production Stilles, Theatrical trailers, Deleted
Scenes, Audio Commentary by director Les Mayfield, editor
Michael Tronick and co-writer John Rogers Special Features,
Story Boards, Photo Gallery, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots,
Cast/Crew Bios, Interactive Menus, DVD-ROM Features.
Easter Egg -
"Shooting Range"
In the
special features menu, simply go to the bottom of the menu (main
menu, etc.) and go to the right with your control. A little gun
symbol will appear letting you know you're there, now just
select and you will go to a menu full of sound effects of the
guns in the movie.
The
film as a whole was very entertaining. The film seemed to market
to the female audiences by giving us a lot of beefcake. Of
course the male audiences enjoyed their share of thrills with
shoot out’s and train robberies and once mustn't forget about
the beautiful Ali Larter who played Zee. I do have to admit that
the movie was not dull. Especially when keeping in mind that
this movie was marketed for a teen crowd.
American
Outlaws provided some really awesome over the top action
sequences, and if you like six shooter “shoot outs”, this
will do the trick. It’s a fun old fashion western movie which
I highly recommend as a rental on a Saturday night or as an
afternoon movie, on the other hand, if you’re a fan of movies
then you won’t be disappointed and this is a must for your
library.
Once
again for those historians out there interested in the history
of Jesse James and his band of outlaws you may want to seriously
heed the disclaimer in the closing credits, which states “all
characters portrayed in this film are fictitious and any
similarity to real persons is purely coincidental.” Either
that or rent a documentary.
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