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Dead Man's Burden

Play trailer Poster for Dead Man's Burden Released May 3, 2013 1h 33m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Tension and distrust rise to the surface when a man (Barlow Jacobs) who was presumed killed in the Civil War returns to New Mexico and opposes his sister's (Clare Bowen) plan to sell the family homestead to a mining company.
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Dead Man's Burden

Critics Reviews

View All (18) Critics Reviews
Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic It's a strong debut for Moshe, who, with the exception of some of the oater dialogue, shows both a reverence for and a knowledge of the genre that's intriguing. Rated: 3.5/5 May 23, 2013 Full Review Laremy Legel Film.com Ponderous but lovely, simple but elegant, it should appeal to fans of Westerns. Rated: 7/10 May 3, 2013 Full Review Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times Small in scale but with a grand visual ambition, "Dead Man's Burden" draws nourishment from its burned-out desert setting and ambling pace. Rated: 3.5/5 May 2, 2013 Full Review Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens There's nothing like some good old fashioned gunfire, family squabbles, horse riding, spurs, miners and homesteaders to get the juices flowing and that's just what first time feature writer/director Jared Moshe does. Nov 26, 2019 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com While it doesn't reach the height of exuberance seen in many of the films it invokes, Dead Man's Burden is an intriguing effort. Jul 25, 2019 Full Review Curtis Woloschuk Paste Magazine Mosh immediately establishes an unforgiving milieu for his moody, minimalist Western. Rated: 7.4/10 May 23, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (19) audience reviews
Audience Member Looks great, and the actors give a valiant go, but the script and direction are melodramatic and cliche. This film can't decide if it wants to be a Western genre romp, or a serious drama about family and betrayal on the 19th Century American frontier. So seldom do we get the marriage of good art direction with good writing. This film is nice to look at, but nothing more. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Some fine performances all-around, in particular Jacobs and Bowen; I'm talking award nomination material here. Moshe does a great job in his directorial/writing debut in presenting a compelling story. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review walter m In "Dead Man's Burden," Wade McCurry(Barlow Jacobs) has survived the Civil War only to find that he is not entirely done with violence just yet. And then once he gets to his family homestead in Texas, he has to prove to his younger sister Martha(Clare Bowen) and her husband Heck(David Call) that he is who he says he is and that his death was greatly exaggerated. That's only to discover that he is too late to attend his father's funeral. "Dead Man's Burden" is a great looking western that has some deep thoughts on the nature of frontier justice. But as far as any kind of story or characterization goes, the movie is sadly paper thin, with acting on the amateurish level of historical reconstructions. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 141008: For a movie with such a slow pace it sure keeps you enthralled. Wow is all I can say. Quite the little western sneaking past the mainstream theatres. A great fix. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A simple story and one that is well played out by a cast of unknowns. Well worth a viewing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Criminally overlooked, Dead Man's Burden is a stark poetic western that takes you through a gritty world of deception. The dialogue has a poetic, almost Cormac McCarthy, approach and the most intriguing aspects are the conversations between the characters rather than big action scenes. It speaks to both the mind and the heart, slow, minimalist, and with the rare quality to meet its ambition. The director obviously has a keen sense for detail and the actors disappear into the world. It is not perfect by any means (some specific things come to mind) but definitely worth a look. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Dead Man's Burden

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Tension and distrust rise to the surface when a man (Barlow Jacobs) who was presumed killed in the Civil War returns to New Mexico and opposes his sister's (Clare Bowen) plan to sell the family homestead to a mining company.
Director
Jared Moshe
Producer
Veronica Nickel, Marcia Woske
Screenwriter
Jared Moshe
Distributor
Cinedigm
Production Co
Illuminaria Productions
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 3, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$29.6K
Runtime
1h 33m
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