Nonureva Really Surprised!

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Gregory Smith I only wish this father/son acting team worked more with each other after Lost Boys, then we would be reviewing this movie as another Sutherland and Son production. Forsaken is a nice rounded western plot with some really good if not great acting by father and son. Demi Moore was a gem to see on screen face to face with her long time friend Kiefer. Brian Cox may seem like the perfect typecast western villain, but that's because he does it great. I enjoyed this movie and it was actually a damn good western. I'm a Young Guns fan and the original Young Gunner showed us he can still be a action cowboy.

lavatch The opening moment of "Forsaken" is a protracted scream of a woman coming from an unspecified locale on the frontier in nineteenth-century America. That moment will have a payoff later in the film.In the DVD bonus segment of the making of "Forsaken," the film artists describe how their goal was to make an old-fashioned, classic western in which the form was standard melodrama of good guys and villains. But the film actually succeeding in transcending the shallow melodramatic style. Under the skillful leadership of television director Jon Cassar, the film was beautifully photographed and a multi-layered approach to the drama was achieved.The focus of the film is on the return home to the prairie of Civil War veteran John Henry Clayton (Kiefer Sutherland). After the war, the disillusioned John Henry had become a mean gunslinger, who built a reputation as a ruthless killer. He now reunites with his father, the Reverend Clayton (Donald Sutherland), who is convinced that his son has fallen into depravity. The bonding of father and son culminates in what is the most moving scene in the film--a church confession of John Henry that casts the father-son relationship in a new light.Another multidimensional character is that of "Gentleman Dave" (Michael Wincott). Dave feels a kindred spirit with John Henry in that they both want to avoid violence. The two characters are tested when a group of thugs led by Brian Cox attempt to take over all of the major farms in the community from the honest, hard-working sodbusters.The confrontation of John Henry and Gentleman Dave is one of the most interesting moments in the film. It was this kind of complexity integrated into the simplicity of the Western structure that in part led to the demise of the film Western after the disastrous production of "Heaven's Gate." With the magnificent cinematography, a good story, and complex characters, "Forsaken" has all of the ingredients missing in "Heaven's Gate."

amesmonde In 1872 Wyoming, a former gunslinger and his estranged father encounter a ruthless businessman and his posse of thugs.Director Jon Cassar's Forsaken is very much a paint by numbers Western, however, the draw (no pun indented) is having father and son Donald and Kiefer Sutherland share the screen. In addition, the supporting cast elevate Brad Mirman's screenplay with the likes of Demi Moore, Brian Cox and Michael Wincott. Wincott's Dave Turner, a dangerous principled gun for hire is particularly notable aiming for the heights of Tombstone's (1993) Kilmer Doc Holiday and underrated Aaron Poole shines as thug Frank Tillman, both actors leave an impression.Along with Jonathan Goldsmith's score Cassar's low-key Western captures the essence of the classics including Shane (1953). And while it's not a novel as the recent Bone Tomahawk (2015) or as broodingly fun as In a Valley of Violence (2016) it ticks all the American West boxes. Kiefer Sutherland's John Henry Clayton like Ethan Hawke in the aforementioned film is haunted by the war, Here writer Mirman doesn't really offer anything new, however, thanks to Kiefer's simmering cowboy performance he sells the heartache and torment of a repressed killer. The love triangle between Moore's Mary, her husband and John adds some drama in amongst Cassar's well staged fights and shoots out as people are force to sell of their land.Donald Sutherland's Reverend William Clayton only gets one scene with Cox (who sadly isn't given much to do) an unscrupulous business man James McCurdy. But the Sutherland's father and son relationship tensions offer some weighty telling scenes with tragic accidents, war, mother and brother back-story dynamics which hold interest. The preceding peak in the showdown closing act and Winacott and Kiefer cement their gun slinging positions in a satisfying close.Overall, it doesn't shake the genre up but is worth watching if only for the Sutherlands, Winacott and Poole's performance.

kosmasp Way back, back into ... Western territory. And this may seem familiar if you do. So it's not so much a modern take, but more like an homage to the way things were done before. If that floats your boat (or rides your horse I reckon), than this movie is for you. If you want a lot of action scenes and clear cut heroes (because the villain is clear cut, though not all of his henchmen are that ... well evil), than you should probably start looking elsewhere.Sutherlands reunited, but not in tune character wise, which helps the plot move forward. Great to see them play off each other on screen, though Kiefer seems to be phoning in a lot things (especially the head down, want no trouble mentality, that could be described as emotionless). Other than that, this is more than decent and can be enjoyed