buyamonkey

There are very few farces made these days, so people aren't very used to the exaggerated and non-realistic elements of this genre. It's the same reason some of the Coen Brother movies don't connect with mainstream audiences. This time it's the Zellner Brothers, and they double down on the unusual genre elements by making it a farcical western. But if you're down for some off-beat cinema, what the Zellner's do here is pretty fantastic.

As farces do, the story here takes some pretty drastic bait and switch turns as it sets up Pattinson's character as the traditional western hero - yet still gives you signs that all is not right with this guy. Indeed, he's a very bad man. And things get very tragic and slightly disturbing when he meets his love - the damsel who is not in distress until he shows up.

I'll refrain from further spoilers, but I feel like people react to farces like the directors or writers don't know what they're doing. They do. And this one is a good one in that it packs more than one tragic punch by the end. The characters in this movie long to be part of something they can't and being part of. And it being the ruthless wild west, even if they get a moment's peace, it can be quickly taken away by violent men.

I think this one might have legs as a bit of a cult movie, hopefully. It's not for everyone but that's all right. Looking forward to what else these original and imaginative filmmakers will come up with.