The Outsider (2019)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on June 1, 2019 @ tonymacklin.net.

The Outsider is evocative but at times muddled and redundant.

An indie western seems like an oxymoron these days.

We have seen it all before. Director Timothy Woodward, Jr. and screenwriter Sean Ryan take us down a well-worn, muddy path.

One asset is the interesting cinematography by Pablo Diez that uses light creatively.

The cast has to struggle with the material. Jon Foy is able as the distraught avenger, and the Marshall played by low-voiced Trace Adkins has a bit of gravitas. Sean Patrick Flanery is affecting as the cool, engaging tracker.

But the Marshall's evil son (Kaiwi Lyman) is a contrived character who undergoes a too sudden, unmotivated change which belies his past behavior.

The Outsider is a film of sex, racism, violence, revenge in the Old West. And ugliness.

After a while, the incessant, unremitting violence is benumbing.

Perhaps Marshall Walker says it best, when he declares, "What a damn mess."