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Sean Rafferty, a.k.a. The Montana Kid (Paul Gross), has a gun, and he knows how to twirl it. But in the small town of Barkley Brush (population 17), no one is impressed. Sean has supposedly killed 11 men (one for beating up his Pa), and now he’s spouting off that he’ll make it an even dozen by killing the blacksmith, Jack (Tyler Mane).
Despite his threats, the town folk keep nursing Sean and his horse back to health. Jane (Sienna Guillory) strikes a deal: if he can fix her broken windmill, he can have her broken pistol. He promises Jane that soon he’ll be just a “charming memory,” but he hangs around for a dinner party and a local dance at the Fort.
Gunless has a strong story line and excellent actors. Paul Gross has played many lead roles before, most recently in Passchendale, which he also wrote and directed. An online survey reports that 8 out of 10 women would watch him read the phone book. Here, however, we get to see him serve up pithy one-liners with perfectly dry delivery.
You may recognize Sienna Guillory from the TV miniseries Helen of Troy or the movie Inkheart. She brings the right amount of boldness to the character of Jane Taylor, an independent prairie woman.
I also enjoyed seeing Canadian screen veteran Graham Greene, whose career spans five decades, bring his quiet strength to the role of Two Dogs. He plays the straight man beside the klutzy Corporal Jonathan (Dustin Milligan), an RCMP officer who provides good slap-stick humor.
Near as I can figure, the year is 1818—a time when a bullet cost a penny. But don’t think there’s anything old-fashioned about this movie. The themes are current: letting go of the past and falling in love. Even a gunslinger can give up shooting when the right woman comes along.
The movie was filmed in Fort Langley, British Columbia, with stunning results. I haven’t seen sweeping landscapes like this since Brokeback Mountain. The score is newly recorded by Blue Rodeo. Like any good movie score, it blends right in with the emotional moods of the story. The song “Don’t Let the Darkness In Your Head” is beautiful.
A lot of things in this film make me laugh. Sean is so lonely that he talks to his horse about who stinks more. It’s funny that his horse doesn’t listen to his commands. It’s also funny that the shirt given to this “tough guy” to wear is an oriental silk blouse. Very stylin’!
Gunless is a movie that’s worth owning, since renting it once will lead to renting it twice, and then you’ll end up renting it a third time. All of the elements of great film-making come together here: a solid story with superb acting in accurate period costumes with breathtaking cinematography.
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