Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Cast: Isaiah Mustafa, Thomas Jane, Anna Camp, Zach McGowan, Ron Garritson, Gabriel Byrne, John Ales, Aimee Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Lew Temple, Nat Wolff, Emma Kenney, Scottie Thompson, Isabella Ruby, Marley Gray, Eadie Gray, Danny Bohnen, Tanaya Beatty, Lia Maria Johnson, Joe Nichols, Scotty Bohnen, Brandon Lessard, Tim Montana, Jenna Ciralli, Kate Britton, Emily Rasmuss, Cooper Nusbaum.
In the last decade the Western has made a comeback, finding itself back in vogue as people look to a time that may have been more dangerous, where life expectancy was short, where you were as likely to die by snakebite as you were being shot in the back by a prostitute or a stranger, but it was one of simple belief; the modern day might have every convenience that we can wish for, but something tangible has been left behind, our souls have not become richer for the journey, and arguably the Western comeback reflects this with far greater observation than many give it credit for.
One of the other reasons might be, and hopefully actually is, the truth of time has started to appear, the voices of a lost nation, of people slaughtered at the hands of European settlers is no longer a story of sport, of blinkered heroism disguising the atrocity of racism against the First Nation people, and instead relies on mood of the settlers and their own biases against each other in lands stolen by them.
Whilst Murder At Yellowstone City might not be the most exuberant of films of the genre, it nevertheless holds its sincerity tightly, and although it shows its hand early with the plot and straightness of storyline progression, its observation of the stranger accused of murder and the few people who believe his story is one that could have been written for the true greats of an earlier time.
There is no major twist, the ending is almost telegraphed from the outset, and yet it is a film that invokes much of the old Western search for redemption, the stranger in town leaving a mark on the prejudices and insular bigotries that was carried with them across oceans, across the belief that some races are inferior to others and therefore always the first to blamed for a failure in a society.
A film that can hold itself graciously and without fanfare is always one to observe, it might leave you frustrated, but it is one that in terms of classic film making is one of beauty, is one of attraction rather than science and explanation; and with great performances from Anna Camp, Isaiah Mustafa as the stranger, and Thomas Jane in probably his finest film role to date, as well as a concise but overwhelming appearance by the legendary Richard Dreyfuss, Murder At Yellowstone City is an act of satisfaction and gratified appreciation.
Ian D. Hall