Blackthorn

Released By: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Released On: 12/20/2011
Director: Mateo Gil
Cast: Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega, Stephen Rea
Year: 2011
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The Film:

Most people are familiar with the story of Butch Cassidy courtesy of the Paul Newman/Robert Redford film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In the 1969 classic, the story of two bank robbers concludes when they end up in a shootout with hundreds of Bolivian army soldiers. Largely thought to be the end of the matter by the general public, the legend has become one of great debate; if the many folks claiming Butch Cassidy was still alive more than twenty years after the incident are lying, there's always the inconclusive DNA tests to cast doubt on whether or not the infamous outlaws really died on that day in 1908.

The film Blackthorn examines the path that Butch might have taken if he'd never met his end at the hands of the Bolivian army. It's the late 1920s, and James Blackthorn, aka, Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard), is living an easy life in South America, sleeping with one of the local girls and corresponding with the son he has never met. Deciding that enough time has passed, he notifies his son that he'll soon be returning home, and begins to make arrangements to relocate back to the United States. While riding across the wild Bolivian landscape, he is attacked by Eduardo (Eduardo Noriega), which spooks his horse into running away with all of his money and worldly possessions. The problem is seemingly solved when he learns that Eduardo has made off with a substantial amount of cash from robbing his last employer; one of the South American mining companies, notorious for subjecting their workers to inhuman conditions.

Teaming up with Eduardo on the condition that he split the money with him, Butch quickly learns the hard way that the victims of Eduardo's theft are not going to let their money go quite so easily, and have decided that Eduardo will pay with his life if they can't retrieve the stolen cash. And as if that wasn't enough, all of the recent excitement has alerted one of the Pinkerton Detective Agency's men (Stephen Rea) that the legendary Butch Cassidy might still be alive and kicking. The odds are against him getting back home to see his son, but Butch Cassidy isn't the type of man to let the odds get in his way.

With such a great story as the inspiration for the film, it's hard to describe why Blackthorn is not very good. Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega, and a huge cast of supporting characters carry a lot of weight in talent, so that rules out bad acting; and the dialogue is well-written and sincere. Likewise, the location is breathtaking, the Bolivian landscape being as evocative as the awe-inspiring scenery from the classic westerns. Mateo Gil's direction is probably not going to blow your mind, but it's still decent and tastefully done. Even the set design is top-notch.

Unfortunately for screenwriter Miguel Barros, it looks like blame should get placed squarely at his feet for this one. As mentioned, the dialogue is not bad, it's actually fairly well-written; the problem with Blackthorn seems to be that it's just not very interesting. At all. The events unfold as they should, but even during some of the more intense scenes, there's just not a lot going on. It's all very boring. There doesn't seem to be a problem with the pacing or the editing, it just seems like somebody has taken some interesting characters with a bit of a mission, and then sent them on their way with nothing to do. Sam Shepard buys a musical instrument and spends a good chunk of time singing while riding across the landscape, but it doesn't matter. He and Eduardo come across some hired guns sent to retrieve the mining money, but it barely registers. Even the big confrontation between Butch and Mackinley, the man who spent so many years hunting him down, comes across as drab and lifeless. By the time the film was over, I felt like I'd spent the last couple of hours watching TV with the volume muted; Blackthorn is a good example of a film where everything seems to be perfect, but a key ingredient is missing.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Magnolia brings Blackthorn to blu-ray in a gorgeous-looking 2.35:1 transfer. The real star of the film is the location and the cinematography, with the colour and texture of the Bolivian landscape rendered beautifully. Black levels are good and consistent, with no apparent issues with the transfer. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack is probably a little excessive, considering that most of the audio is dialogue, but it does the job admirably with the sound remaining well-balanced and coherent throughout.

The first extra on the disc is a selection of Deleted and Extended Scenes, which runs just over 22 minutes. Some of them are worth seeing, but don't really add too much to an already slow film.

A Making Of featurette runs just over 10 minutes, and features the creators of the film discussing the Butch Cassidy legend and the origin of the story. They also talk about casting, filming on location, and the scoring of the film.

Short Films By Director Mateo Gil has a real winner in the first entry, called Breaking and Entering. Running just over 17 minutes, this short film is a humourous look at the tactics of door-to-door salesmen. Say Me, a 15-minute short dealing with relationships, is also good, but not as entertaining.

The HD Net supplement is the usual promotional material, though it does feature an interesting interview with Sam Shepard. It runs approximately 5 minutes.

A Trailer for the film, four trailers for other Magnolia releases, and a commercial for Hd Net round out the extras.

The Final Word:

Sadly, what could have been a solid reboot of the western genre falls flat on its face. Skip it.