Lawmen: Bass Reeves

If you liked 'The Good Lord Bird' this is very similar. Well filmed, good acting. Seems higher budget than you might expect. I'm only a few episodes in, but enjoying it. You can always tell when a tv series is based on a book because the storytelling tends to be better as does the character development.

If you're into Westerns, civil war style stories and the challenges of the mid 1800's, you'll no doubt like this. Also great to see Barry Pepper and Shea Whitman in the cast. David Oyelowo is a great leading man and brings so much to this series. Looking forward to finishing it and hopefully more series to follow.

All my life I've heard the stories of Bass Reeves, and it automatically makes for a Hollywood drama. The man was a legend. But every account I've ever seen about his life, always did a disservice. The movie that came out a few years ago is no exception. The cartoonish mustache, the cliched shootouts, and the unrealistic dialogue made me want my 90 minutes back. I went into this expecting more of the same.

The first thing that caught my attention, however, was the cast. David Oyelowo has never played a bad character. But then I see Dennis Quaid, Donald Sutherland, Shea Whigham, and Barry Pepper, my first thought was sheesh. You almost CAN'T mess this movie up. Turned out I was right. The acting is subtle, even if the old school southern dialect is a little strained. The character development doesn't seem rushed. The cinematography is beautiful. It's a great show all around, and the end of each episode so far, makes you want to stay up past your bed time to watch the next. Hats off to a fantastic cast, and finally a storyline that does justice to this forgotten hero.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves is another in a long line of hits for Taylor Sheridan. Anything this guy touches is pure gold. Obviously, this series is about the life of Bass Reeves, one of the legends of the West and one of the first U. S. Deputy Marshall's who was black. David Oyelowo does a terrific job playing the title character, he was just nominated for an Emmy for his job in this. This series also has a bunch of supporting characters played by great actors like Dennis Quaid, Barry Pepper, Shea Whigham, Donald Sutherland, Lauren E Banks, Garrett Hedlund, Forrest Goodluck, etc. If you're a fan of this genre or Taylor Sheridan then this is a must watch.

The show is beautifully shot, well directed and with some fantastic performances. Unfortunately, as the series progressed, the stories drifted farther into pure HBO level cartoonish fiction.

Bass Reeves was a great and legendary lawman, and it is sad that his story couldnt be told simply and truthfully. I guess his 14 kills in 32 years of being a lawman werent considered dramatic enough for us 2020's folks who need explosions and green screens. It detracts from the man's greatness when his long service to law enforcement is reduced to some magic-tinged fight between good and evil, mysticism and wild conjecture. By the time I reached episode VIII I grew disappointed that the heroics I saw in the early episodes--which I had thought must be accurate--were most likely complete fiction.

This show was perhaps the biggest chunk of all my reasons to sign up for Paramount + and I will not watch any of the upcoming Lawmen seasons supposedly portraying famous lawmen. It's a shame.

This is worth the watch, at only 8 episodes, and as I said it is very well done.

I love this new western series and grateful it's creators saw fit to leave the "f" bombs at the door. Please make more westerns like Bass Reeves! The actors are talented and believeable, the story line is easy to follow after the first episode, which has to give you background so you'll understand Bass and his motivations. It's good to see Donald Sutherland and Dennis Quaid. From what I've read, I understand this is an anthology and next season we will follow a new character, but I'm sad to lose the thread of Reeves. Maybe we can get a spin-off? More clean westerns would be a real treat Hollywood.