'SLOW WEST' : Monday 8th June 2015.

'SLOW WEST' which I saw this week has been out on a very limited release in Australian cinemas for a few weeks now, but it caught my interest because I don't mind a good Western, it has Michael Fassbender at its lead, and the reviews have generally been favourable. Directed and Written by first time Director John Mclean this is a slow burning action adventure Western set in 1870 Colorado and filmed in New Zealand and Scotland with the former doubling for the wild frontier. The film Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it was awarded the Sundance Institute's World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic Winner.

The story surrounds late teenager Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit McPhee) - a Scottish lad who is in search of his true love Rose Ross (Caren Pistorios) and her father John Ross (Rory McCann) who both fled Scotland on a murder charge, and are now seeking to establish a new life in the new world. As Jay makes his way through hostile country fending for himself and getting by more through luck than judgement, he comes across Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender) who is a drifter making a living as a bounty hunter - although he fails to disclose this to the young naive Jay. When Jay has a run in with three dodgy looking soldiers hunting down a native 'savage' it is Silas who comes to the rescue and offers his services as a chaperon to escort the young lad cross country in search of his true love.

For the sum of US$50 upfront and US$50 on delivery Silas is gainfully employed and so their journey continues. Along the way they encounter various other Desperados, opportunists and the gang of Payne (Ben Mendelsohn) with whom Silas used to be an associate in his younger days. Over a fireside chat in the woods one night with a cigar and a bottle of Absinthe Silas and Payne discuss the bounty that exists on the heads of John Ross and his daughter Rose, who the unknowing Jay is leading them to.

The next day after getting almost washed away in a storm the two continue their journey minus their guns which Payne has confiscated leaving them defenceless except for Silas' hunting knife. With Payne and his gang following but hanging back to just maintain a watchful eye, Silas and Jay eventually reach their destination spying the Ross household in the distance with a cornfield in the foreground and snow capped peaks in the background. Little do they know however, that there is another bounty hunter hot on the heels who has arrived at the homestead ahead of them.

Needless to say the showdown and the shoot out come to a head as three bounty hunters all converge almost simultaneously and the fate of the protagonists hang in the balance, and for most of them it doesn't end well. The reuniting between Rose and Jay is not without incident as the bullets fly, the blood flows, the cornfield burns, the household woodwork is peppered with holes and the body count mounts, but, amidst all this carnage, violence, death and destruction there is a happier ending!

At under a ninety minute running time this film delivers on the action but it is not overstated or stylised - it is what you would imagine of the hostile west where life is cheap, it's everyman for himself and survival of the fittest. The dialogue is sparse, the scenery epic, the story simple but reasonably well told and there are a few laugh out loud moments. The performances are solid enough although I am not convinced as to Smit-McPhee's casting as the still wet behind the ears, naive, innocent, lovelorn teenager trudging continent wide in search of his childhood sweetheart like some groundbreaking pioneer when in reality he's probably wary of his own shadow.

This is not a film you have to see on the big screen - the big screen in the comfort of your own home will suffice and so you could save yourself $20 and wait for the DVD and BluRay, but, it is well worth a look and ticks a number of boxes to the credit of John Mclean's Directorial debut and his writing prowess.

  

-Steve, at Odeon Online-