Cowboy Smoke (2008) - By Brian Morton

Film Reviews: Cowboy Smoke (2008) - By Brian Morton
Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2008 @ 00:05:00 Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

They say that the western, as a genre, is dead and I guess that's probably true...mostly. After all, when was the last time you headed to the theatre to see a cowboy picture? And, that's probably because we can see westerns on TV nearly every day, and, for today’s kids, riding on a horse isn't a mode of transportation, it's a recreational activity, so the western movie really needed to be updated. And that's what talented writer/director Will Moore has done, he's taken a western and updated it for today. The movie is called Cowboy Smoke and it's brilliant!

Here's the story: Joe is a convenience story clerk who's been idolizing cowboys his whole life. His dream is to become a cowboy, and, when he's fired from his job, he gets his chance. But, Joe comes to realize that the cowboy of the movies is a romanticized version of reality. He finds himself on a ranch desperately trying to be a real cowboy, but finds that he's not up to the challenge. Before he's fired, he's given one chance, if he can shoot well, the ranch may be able to keep him around. Well, Joe is a shooting savant and can shoot very well, all due to his video game skills.

The job he's offered though, is killing illegal Mexicans who are crossing the border and travelling across the ranch owner’s property. When Joe sees the ranch hands shooting down these people for fun, he snaps and runs away. This is where the real action begins! As the story unfolds, Joe finds himself entangled with coyotes, men who take money in exchange for getting illegal Mexicans into the country, and meets Travis, a Texas Ranger who's searching for an escaped criminal. That escaped criminal is Wes, a man who's on the run for an unspecified crime. Wes finds himself working for the coyote too, and also finds himself disturbed by the prospect of running human beings like cattle. Joe and Wes eventually join forces and, despite the differences in their morality, Joe being a 'good guy' and Wes being a 'bad guy', they find that both feel that the coyotes are wrong and need to be stopped. Which leads to the inevitable final showdown between right and wrong.

The brilliance of Cowboy Smoke is that it takes all the standard western movie stereotypes and places them in modern settings perfectly. Joe is the young nice kid, who finds that he has to become a bit hard to get by in the real world. Wes is the strong silent type, who does what he thinks is right, whether or not the law allows it. Travis is the morally ambiguous lawman, a man who started on the right side of the law and suddenly finds himself on the other side without knowing how he got there. Will Moore has really put together a great story, with a great cast here. Mike Lutz is perfectly cast as Joe, the young man who grows up very quickly. Matt Johnson as Travis brings just the right balance of integrity-gone-wrong and confusion and Chad Matthews embodies the classic 'man with no name' attitude as Wes! If you're a fan of westerns, then you're going to love Cowboy Smoke, it's a real honest to God western that takes place today. I'm giving Cowboy Smoke four out of four cigars. If John Wayne were alive, this is the kind of movie he'd be making! You can find out more about Cowboy Smoke by heading over to the Cowboy Smoke web page. This really is a movie that's worth your time in finding and seeing! So, until next time, I'm gonna ride off into the sunset, but not before I remind you that the best movies are bad movies...pardner.