Wizard-8
I am usually a sucker for any offering from the western movie genre, which is why I picked up the DVD for this movie when I found it at a dollar store. But I found it to be really bad, so I can only wonder what casual or non-fans of the western genre would think of it. Now, the movie does offer a once in a lifetime cast, and I admit that writer/director Dwight Yoakam does manage to generate some genuine desolate atmosphere. He also directs the gun battle scenes in a manner that makes them come across as more realistic than usual. However, the action moments only make up a small part of the movie. Most of the movie is simply an extremely slow-moving mess, with too many characters just standing around talking about uninteresting thing with barely any plot in sight. I have to admit that I almost fell asleep several times watching the movie since it was so dull for the most part. Incidentally, I watched the full 133 minute version of the movie - a cut version running 100 minutes apparently exists. This is one time I wish I saw the cut version of a movie.
Lechuguilla
It plays like a TV Western miniseries: slow, deliberate, lots of characters. But the script is a mess. The inciting incident doesn't occur until twenty minutes into the film. The protagonist disappears in major segments. Characters are miserable, poorly defined, loud-mouthed, and annoyingly angry. There's a lack of plot flow that makes the film hard to follow. For example, characters in early scenes disappear to be replaced by new characters that then disappear. Some plot elements seem unrelated to the underlying story. The entire plot is chaotic and disorganized.The film attempts to tell the story of Val Casey (Dwight Yoakam), lawman in a desolate town called Los Tragos, Arizona Territory; the year is 1907. But something happens and Val morphs into a different occupation; I'm not sure what. We meet a variety of people in this film, most of them unlikable. There's lots of gunfire and violence.As bad as the script is, the visuals are fine. All that dust, the dim indoor lighting at night, wooden exteriors, and the vast expanse of empty land combine to make for a visually pleasing, and realistic experience. And the sound of the wind adds to the tone of forlorn desolation.Threadbare costumes and interior decor seem realistic for the period. But I didn't like the highly repetitious score.At over two hours in duration, "South Of Heaven, West Of Hell" is something of a chore to get through, aside from the interesting visuals. It's as if we are watching a downsized Western epic. Dwight, stick to songwriting and singing. That's where your talents lie.
RupertsFriend
I was intrigued (and unsettled) enough about it on my first viewing to give it a second viewing and I'm glad I did.To begin with, this movie contains some of the best acting Vince Vaughn has done in his career. Vince is a mercurial, talented actor who is wasted in most of his formula films (Wedding Crashers, Couples Retreat). His other great acting was under Sean Penn's direction in Into the Wild. I think the fact that Dwight got such a performance out of Vince speaks volumes about Dwight's abilities as a director.With that said, the poor editing on this movie diluted the power of some of the scenes. And because of that, I think the movie suffered. But if you want to see a movie that visually beautiful, radical and slow in places -- but eventually quite interesting-- then this is a movie for you. Forget the formulas. This is an homage to Spaghetti Westerns, Film Noir and Classic Horror films. Also, I can't say enough about the soundtrack. It was perfect and the soundtrack album is even better.
braden-18
I got this particular movie on DVD for $2 (which should have been warning enough for me). I had heard that Warren Zevon was in this pic (his only appearance outside of documentaries, as far as I know) but was disappointed he had a fairly bit part as Babcock.I am a fan of Zevon's work (in fact, here in London, Ontario, Canada our baseball team is The Werewolves and their mascot is Warren Z. Von, which is a great source of pride to me) but, quite frankly, I didn't really pay attention to this movie. I found the plot to be very plodding, the characters to be very shallow, and the dialogue very monotonous. In the end, the only thing that kept this movie from getting a 1 from me was that Zevon was in it.I'm not saying don't watch this movie just because I didn't like it, but I will say that if you are looking for a more traditional western, with gunfights and standoffs, then you will probably be disappointed.
AD
