Western ‘Outlaws and Angels’ is a violent but slow, dull ride

Director/writer JT Mollner must have watched a lot of Sam Peckinpah and Quentin Tarantino over the years, judging from his feature-film debut, the western Outlaws and Angels. He shows off a more than passing knowledge of their love of violence and viscera — and it’s even shot in 35mm for a vintage feel.

But he missed out on any of their humor, poetry and artistry in this bloody but tedious slog.

Henry (Chad Michael Murray, Agent Carter) leads a vicious group of bank robbers on a getaway through a remote part of the desert southwest. They’ve got a lawman (a severely underutilized Luke Wilson) on their tail and many miles to go before hitting the Mexican border.

The remote Tildon family farm then makes for a perfect hideout until morning, but something is amiss. The Tildons — preacher dad (Ben Browder), Bible-thumping mom (Teri Polo) and feuding teenage sisters Florence (Francesca Eastwood, Clint’s daughter) and Charlotte (Madisen Beaty) — have lots of secrets, which get slowly pried out over the course of the two-hour running time.

Forget the intruders’ sexual assault on the mom and the dad. Forget Henry’s sexual relationship with a supposedly consenting 15-year-old Florence. The characters aren’t interesting enough to care about and the violence and torture inflicted upon them just seems like so much bloodsport.

Not to mention that 22-year-old Eastwood looks and acts more like an adult going to a cowboy-chic party in Santa Fe, where this was filmed, rather than a teen who has been raised in the middle of nowhere who’s desperate and lonely enough to side with her attackers.

For those who make it through to what seems like the end, there’s even more to sit through (and there’s more after that, as there’s a short coda after all the credits). If the whole experience is meant to mirror the bad guys’ long, slow, rough ride from the bank to the border, then Outlaws and Angels succeeds.

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This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Western ‘Outlaws and Angels’ is a violent but slow, dull ride."