American Outlaws

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Charles T SPOILERS AHEAD! "American Outlaws" is cinematic proof that the American public will watch just about anything, even a film that makes "Young Guns" look like "The Searchers." Colin Farrell is Jesse James and Gabriel Macht plays his brother Frank. After the film opens with perhaps the most fun ever had at a Civil War battle, the Jameses and Youngers head home to Missouri. There, evil railroad executives have moved into the state in record time and are trying to buy everyone's land to build a railroad. Farms are burned, people killed, and the Youngers and Jameses have had it. After Ma James (Kathy Bates, here for the paycheck) is killed in an attack, the guys decide to stick it to the man by robbing banks where the railroad company does business. The rest of the film is a series of explosions as the gang robs, Allan Pinkerton (Timothy Dalton) tries to track James down, and the boys escape from one pickle to another. This film is stupid. So stupid. First of all, all the characters are straight out of a screenplay seminar: Jesse the dashing hero, Zee (Ali Larter) his love interest, Frank the smart one, Cole Younger (Scott Caan) the hothead, Bob Younger (Will McCormack) the "funny" one, Jim Younger (Gregory Smith) the boy who you know will die, Tom (Nathaniel Arcand) the politically correct Native American Indigenous People Indian Scout guy whose sole function here is to add some color to the cast of white guys, Rains (Harris Yulin) and Parker (Terry O'Quinn) are the villains, Ma James is the religious nut who has no problem with guns and killin', and Pinkerton, who enjoys the chase of James more than the capture. All the young men wear cool clothes and brandish magical pistols that reload themselves. Thank goodness everyone over thirty five is an idiot, so as these rascally killers can go John Woo/Chow Yun Fat all over their gold-filled rumps and do serious damage without ever killing an innocent bystander. Electric guitar riffs fill the soundtrack, and the film goes through all its preordained set pieces where the outcome has already been determined yet the film makers treat them as if they invented the genre. If you need to see cute guys without their shirts on, go online. If you need to see a decent western, watch anything but this. The entire cast and crew should be ashamed of themselves for coming up with this and shooting it. Did we learn nothing from "The Brady Bunch," when Bobby worshiped Jesse James until Mike brought home the son of one of the outlaw's victims? Why is that decades old sitcom more responsible than this dung? Wanna know the kicker to this whole migraine of a movie? Ma James is killed, prompting the boys to take revenge on the railroad. In real life, she outlived Jesse by almost forty years. Avoid "American Outlaws" like you would the popular girl at the brothel. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/28/24 Full Review Audience Member It's a fun and action-packed Western with a good cast. Colin Farrell does a great job as Jesse James, and the movie has a nice sense of humor. I spent a really good time watching it. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review Farah R American Outlaws is more like a music video than a movie. The acting is corny, the story is weak, and the whole thing is wrapped in cliches. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 10/06/23 Full Review Brian D I was laughing hysterically and then realized it wasn't a comedy and then I laughed even harder. Who wrote this movie?? This movie was a bad excuse for the actors to take their shirts off. I didn't know they had pompadours in the 1871. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Jesse James (George Stults) and his brother Frank (Tim Abell) have emerged from a robbery gone wrong and Jesse is healing up with the help of Carrie (Siri Baruc) and Mary (Lauren Eckstrom). They don't know that Marhsall Kane (Peter Fonda, who started his career making low budget Roger Corman films and fits in just fine here) is coming after them as well as his men making a play for the money and leaving the brothers in the cold. How do you feel about day for night? Do you love it? Would you be happy just to have Jeffrey Combs show up for a little bit? Will you watch every western there is? Are you a fan of Fred Olen Ray or perhaps writing an entire week of a web site about his movies? There's still someone on IMDB that's calling out the historical and weapon accuracy of Ray's movies, such as how the movie is set in the 1860s and civilians are carrying Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army revolvers — which weren't available to the general population until 1875 or later — and none of the guns recoil when they're shot. I appreciate the writer's attention to detail and invite them to write for the site. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review tom m Reasonably entertaining. The dialogue was a bit stilted, but I guess it's a 20 year old production so it may not have aged all that well. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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