Sweetwater

R

Released Oct 11, 2013

1 hr. 34 min.

Western

List

25%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

37%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A frontier widow (January Jones) seeks revenge on the religious fanatic (Jason Isaacs) who murdered her husband.

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isla s

This is a dark watch - it has quite a sinister feel to it, with a shadow of foreboding. However, the action side of this Western film is somewhat sporadic. The viewer is left somewhat on tenterhooks, wondering who will 'kick off' next and what may come of it. There is some witty dialogue at times, with things said such as 'go scrub your ass with a cactus brush!' - nice mental image, that(!). Its reasonably atmospheric but if your keen on fast paced films then this one may bore or distract you as there is a fair emphasis on dialogue heavy scenes. There are one or two potential jump scares too, depending on how nerve-y you may be. There is of course some strong-ish violence shown, bloody violence although the film is for the most part darkly lit, so there isn't a huge amount of detail shown but certainly enough to get the general idea of whats going on, if you know what I mean. There is also a religious aspect to this film, in that numerous crucifixes are shown i.e. Christianity. One of the characters is shown quoting what I assume to be verses from the bible, which is ironic given the dark deeds/violence inflicted on others, which I would certainly assume not to be promoted by the Bible(!) but it does add to the general sinister atmosphere provided. I mention this as it may or may not offend you if you are devoutly religious. The violence is very much comic book in style, with sudden movements and so on. I feel that this film is a mix of action/thriller and a Western and it tries perhaps too much to be both a serious and a flippant film and it doesn't enitrely work. Its an average, alright watch but not quite good as such, I'd say, hence my 3 star rating.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

kevin c

January Jones stars as a vengeance seeking woman in the 1800's who tries to exact revenge on people who have wronged her and her husband. Jason Isaacs is fantastic as a religious leader and sadistic man. Ed Harris plays a sheriff who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. Harris is excellent in this as well. Gritty western with stellar performances.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not enough good westerns made imo but this is one of them. Very enjoyable watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

Don't get the negative reviews to be honest. Really entertaining Western with great acting all around. Ed Harris knocks it out of the park.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Different take with the revenge character being a woman. Well acted with a believable screenplay depicting the struggles of the weaker and stronger violent elements that would have existed then. Deserves way more than the low rating it is receiving here. Well worth a watch if you enjoy characters rather than gung ho westerns.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Wow. Strong female lead, a refusal to glorify violence, fundamentalism cast in a bad light, even some black humour, and a powerful film all round. A lot of people seem upset by this shakeup of the tired Western format. It's too dark and brutal for me, but it's still impossible to deny this is a very strong piece of work. Do not be mislead, this is not the bad movie someone wants you to believe it is.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

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Logan Miller

Director

January Jones

Sarah

Jason Isaacs

Prophet Josiah

Ed Harris

Sheriff Jackson

Vic Browder

Martin

Jenny Gabrielle

Joleen

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Michael Sragow

Orange County Register

This oater with shades of Weird West comic books has a plot too easy to foretell and a thrill level that dips with the rising of the body count.

Rated: C-

Oct 30, 2013

Full Review

David Lewis

San Francisco Chronicle

A revenge-fantasy Western that wants to luxuriate in its B-movie roots but suffers from dull direction and an even duller central performance.

Rated: 1/4

Oct 10, 2013

Full Review

Barbara VanDenburgh

Arizona Republic

It bludgeons with intent, even dabbling in some "Deadwood"-level verbal shock-and-awe; without wit or intelligence, it's merely baroque affectation playacting at depth.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 10, 2013

Full Review

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

Sweetwater does have inspired moments of wild wit, heady heartland humor, and sobering social satire touching on religious fanaticism in particular. Though far too intermingled with SNL style flaky slapstick.

Mar 6, 2024

Full Review

Isaac Feldberg

We Got This Covered

It's not particularly congruent, but thanks to two terrific performances and director Logan Miller's determination to make his own kind of music, Sweetwater packs one hell of a punch.

Rated: 7/10

Dec 30, 2013

Full Review

Travis Hopson

Examiner.com

The west has never been less gritty, less pulpy than it is here, with the locale fading into the background when it should be a character in its own right.

Rated: 1.5/5

Dec 29, 2013

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Synopsis

A frontier widow (January Jones) seeks revenge on the religious fanatic (Jason Isaacs) who murdered her husband.

Director: Logan Miller
Executive Producer: Ed Harris, Tucker Moore, Steve Bannon, Rick Benattar, Andrew J. Curtis, Jonathan English, Philipp Menz, Stefan Menz, Glenn Kendrick Ackerman
Screenwriter: Logan Miller, Noah Miller
Distributor: Raindance
Production Co: Kickstart Productions, Raindance Entertainment, Mythic International Entertainment
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language|Graphic Nudity|Strong Violence)
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 11, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 12, 2014

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