Gunslingers Movie Review – Stephen Dorff and Nicolas Cage’s Western Shoots Blanks for the Most Part

It doesn’t take too much to lead to conflict in a Western, and Brian Skiba’s Gunslingers understands this. There’s no drastic reinvention nor unexpected twists in this tale; instead, it’s a recognizable film consisting of pieces from other well-known Westerns from yesteryear. The problem is, all these parts were better executed by their respective influences.

Stop me if you have heard this before: The most wanted man in America – Stephen Dorff‘s Thomas Keller in Gunslingers – rides into a small town and wants to disappear. There’s a bounty on his head, but the townsfolk help him to live out a quiet and peaceful existence. It doesn’t last for too long, though, as the man’s past catches up with him and puts the town and its people in peril. There’s only one way to survive now: to shoot it out.

Stephen Dorff is the best of a wild bunch

Dorff’s Thomas Keller proves to be the standout of Gunslingers, carrying the same fierce attitude and quiet charisma that made characters like the Man with No Name so popular in their time. He’s a rugged and flawed outlaw, who owns his complicated past, but there’s still a good man inside, standing up for his convictions and those he cares for. Brian Skiba’s writing of Thomas is about as cookie cutter as it comes, but Dorff plays the role better than it deserves, creating a protagonist you want to root for.

In fact, only Dorff comes out of this film with his reputation intact, as the rest of the cast gets lost in the tumbleweeds. Heather Graham’s Valerie Keller is about as by-the-numbers as it comes, while Jeremy Kent Jackson’s Robert Keller goes through the motions in a largely forgettable part, even though he’s a key antagonist. 

Then, there’s Nicolas Cage‘s Ben. I’m sure you have seen the clips and memes about the voice he decides to use in Gunslingers. Now, I love an uncaged Cage as much as the next person, but this “artistic” choice does nothing to aid this movie or character. It’s simply a case of Cage doing what he wants and getting wacky, and a director not being strong enough to reel it back in and say, “You know what, Nic? This ain’t working. Just play it straight here.”

It’s high noon in cliche country

Performances aside, Gunslingers telegraphs the story at every pivotal point. There’s no shock, surprise, or mild “oh, I didn’t see that coming” here. Every plot development and character revelation happens way before it should, because the foreshadowing is about as on the nose as it comes and rolls in the tropes until it reeks of cliche. By the end of the first act, it’s almost insulting to Thomas Keller’s intelligence that he doesn’t see all the facts in front of him.

On a positive note, the action hits the mark. While the editing gets choppy in places, Brian Skiba still pumps Gunslingers with all the ammunition and gunfights to save the film from total disaster. Even if the rest of the film is a sloppy copy-paste of better Westerns, at least the action makes it watchable.

Is Gunslingers worth watching?

In comparison to Westerns of the past, Gunslingers doesn’t feature in the same conversation. It’s a clumsy tribute that feels more like a proof of concept than a film that should have made better use of a talented cast. That being said, there are worse movies out there. Keep the expectations super low, and stay purely for the gunfights.

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