Gunless

Trailer—Gunless

source: Gunless

The Montana Kid (Paul Gross) is a stinky gun toting American outlaw who objects to being called common. He arrives in the Dominion of Canada to find the townfolks annoyingly helpful. Jane Taylor (Sienna Guillory) is a self-assured pioneer and a widow after killing her no good husband. The blacksmith is a giant who keeps helping him despite being called out to a duel. Hopeless corporal JT Kent (Dustin Milligan) and his native guide N'Kwala (Graham Greene) come sniffing around. Then bounty hunters come into town looking for the Montana Kid. The central premise isn't funny by itself but that's all the movie is relying on. Paul Gross doesn't come off as a hardened killer. He doesn't have the swagger. There is a need for more and better jokes. This is still a watchable story with some interesting characters. It's just not that funny.

No, this is not the "The Forgotten" or "Dancing with Wolves". This is a comedy Western in the vein of "Cat Ballou" or of "The Frisco Kid" although for me "Gunless" is much more of a hoot. Clearly not a large studio production, this lack of glitz in no way impedes this movie. With its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, this fun exercise in the cowboy genre never takes itself too seriously. The result is a very watchable light-hearted film. The hero (The Montana Kid) is played by Paul Gross (Men with Brooms) in an understated yet almost John Wayne manner. I found myself wishing that he and his character would return in a sequel or a TV series. He often made me smile, if not chuckle out loud with his sarcastic deadpan delivery and excellent timing. The script is well done and the dialogue is sweet and refreshing. The movie has unabashed heart without being sappy. I was very surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. The outtakes at the end are very funny also. Clearly they had a lot of fun making this sweet little nonsense of a movie.

I had read about "Gunless" and had high expectations. When my wife and I watched the DVD, and laughed ourselves silly, my expectations were exceeded. So what is "Gunless"? First, it is a Western. It is a Western made by folks who love Westerns. The gorgeous BC border country is photographed lovingly (unlike the travesty of e.g. "Heaven's Gate"'s butchery of Montana). The plot is that of a classic Western - turned sideways. Second, the acting. Every actor does well and bounces off other actors with great skill. Characters are broadly played without going over the line. Third, the script is very fine: funny, tense at times, involving and with few anachronisms. A well written, well acted Western and totally hilarious. Paul Gross manages unselfconscious comedy as well as anyone. All the other characters are excellent. It seems from the DVD extras that the cast enjoyed themselves making this film; we enjoyed it even more. It is a sweet story with the cultural differences on the opposite sides of the 49th parallel well spoofed.

Talk about a basket full of interesting characters! I would insist that this film be re-made by a major studio to improve the production values but they would spoil it. Look away from that and you see a charming little film with a believable story and a great script. I would have given it a 10 except for some of the words/phrases were not nineteenth century appropriate and it was just too short! More like a yarn than a film but I enjoyed every bit of it! And they say that I need to write more lines so I will tell you more. Lots of it was period appropriate I guess, and I did find the "philosophy" class to be most interesting. I especially appreciated the character of Jack, like Shawn's mirror, and his desire to just be normal that adds to it. The Chinese folks were portrayed without stereotyping which is good also.

When is a Western not quite your average run-of-the-mill Western? When it's Canadian and it's "Gunless". Paul Gross (magnificently) plays the Montana Kid, -- an American gun- slinger and outlaw who crosses over the Canadian border courtesy of a botched hanging and his wayward horse. Having arrived at a small village, half-dead and stinking to high heaven, the local community of a dozen or so individuals (including the village idiot) become obsessed with the Kid as his notoriety is legendary. The Kid manages to get into a situation with the village blacksmith (fueled by the fact that the blacksmith was doing the Kid a favor but the Kid doesn't see it that way) and this results in a duel. However, the blacksmith has no six-shooter therefore the Kid must provide him with one and the only gun available is broken. What will happen when the gun is finally repaired? I don't want to give too much away but to say that the script is cleverly and masterfully written. There are plenty of dark comedic elements. Paul Gross could almost pass for young Jack Nicholson and plays the role of the Kid oozing with charisma and an acting charm that immediately won me over. Time and care is taken to build the characters in the village without over-burdening you. The characters are likable, appealing and entertaining. If you like your movies full of mindless violence, cursing or shots crammed with 110 MPH computer generated objects, then this movie is not for you as there is none of the above. If you are looking for extremely entertaining albeit different 'Western' that is dripping with great acting (courtesy of Paul Gross), great writing, dark (but family orientated) humor, great vistas and above all great entertainment, you can't go wrong with Gunless. It's a rare gem indeed.

The best humour in this movie is about the difference between the US and Canada. I lived in Canada for 13 years and had two rifles. you could buy them in Sears with no controls in the 1970´s but not hand guns. So the very idea of "gunless" would be lost on people from the states. The movie is amusing at best and, as people have said, the scenery is nice. Apparently the movie won awards in Canada. i think that says a lot. I remember talking with a guy in Toronto, Canada who has just come back from seeing a Shakespeare play in Stratford, Ontario. According to him the best Shakespearean actors were Canadian. Like William Shatner. Suffice it to say, three months later I left Canada for good. There is only so much you can say about ice hockey and snowmobiles.

Despite being one of the rare Canadian films to get a theatrical release in Canada as big as some Hollywood blockbusters, "Gunless" was a big bomb in theatres. A big reason for that was probably an inadequate promotion campaign; despite all my hours of watching TV, I didn't see one commercial for this movie. Some people may claim that the movie being a western doomed its commercial prospects, but if you look at the Hollywood westerns that have been made for the past 30 years, you will see that the GOOD westerns have almost always done at least decent business. As you might have guessed, "Gunless" isn't a good movie. It isn't a movie that provokes hatred or real dislike from viewers, but it's kind of bland and toothless. Paul Gross was a poor choice as the American gunfighter. What the role really needed was someone who oozes a tough charisma, like what John Wayne and Lee Marvin gave in their performances. The production values, despite a hefty budget for a Canadian movie, often make the movie look like a made-for-TV production. And the comedy isn't that funny, coming across as goofy. Not everything about the movie is bad. The background scenery (shot in southern British Columbia) looks very nice. Also, when the movie decides to be serious, it actually isn't that bad. I think that if writer/director William Phillips had treated the premise of this movie in a more realistic and serious fashion, we might have had something here. But as it is, it's a movie you'll forget not long after watching it.