Canadian politeness meets grizzled American west
I expected to enjoy this movie based on the person who referred it to me, but I was surprised at both how much I enjoyed it, as well as how I enjoyed it. Paul Gross does a great job in the lead as a caricature of the hard-ridden desert gunslinger who lives his life on the edge of a gunfight. Ironically, he’s ended up in a quaint little Canadian town that’s never had one; a gunfight, nor a gunfighter.
They all take to their newly arrived hard edged gunman and see him more as a realization of contemporary celebrity than as a dangerous element in their serene little town. This is the point where most of the humor comes from. I doubt that this is very many people’s cup of tea, but I do hope that it’ll be given a chance by anyone who’s on the fence.
Keep in mind this is only a B western, and a Canadian produced one at that, so it’s not got the same feel as the typical Hollywood western, but sometimes a different perspective is a great way to look at something you’ve been looking at the same way for a very long time. However, it’s not to say that this is a jarring departure from familiar western standards; it’s more in the subtleties and sensibilities.
Some standout items, for me, were the blacksmith who doesn’t want to be involved in a gunfight. Tyler Mane does a good job staying appropriately tough, but on the flip side, somewhat reserved and peaceable; just not so much as to be an over the top aw-shucks-softy. His performance was one of the better connections, and his blacksmith felt like a real person.
For humor, the discussion in the school house, about what constitutes a weapon, was great. It was just self-referential enough, and had just enough tone of being a real, contemporaneous discussion between the locals of the town. And that’s what made this movie work for me: it was all about juxtaposition. How one thought or attitude compared when set against a differing backdrop than the usual.
I say again that I know it won’t be everyone’s kind of movie, but if you want something a little different, then definitely give it a try. It’s a comedy, drama, six-gun movie that doesn’t lean too hard on any one genre designation.
Handy With A Gun...! 