Featured Audience Ratings

• paul s

  
  News flash - Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid faked their deaths at the hands of the Bolivian militia. Wow - ok, so what if ??? This is the jumping off point for Blackthorn (Cassidy's assumed name); in a film that takes place 27 years after the Bolivian "incident".… More
  News flash - Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid faked their deaths at the hands of the Bolivian militia. Wow - ok, so what if ??? This is the jumping off point for Blackthorn (Cassidy's assumed name); in a film that takes place 27 years after the Bolivian "incident". Sounds promising, yes? Throw in the perfect casting of Sam Shepard as the ageing Cassidy, add some jaw dropping Bolivian scenery and you've got... a film that failed - not only at the box office, but artistically as well; in spite of the fine scenery and casting of its lead. I lay part of the blame at director Mateo Gil who all too often was at odds with himself, just as the old west fable was being replaced by cars, trains, and manifest destiny. Here he wanted to create an old style western; with horses galloping endlessly... but then he collides with Miguel Barros' script which is grounded in harsh realism (in other words, major plot points center on the fact that horses do NOT run forever). Gil wallows in the harshness as well, with several bleak horizons, dying or dead steeds, exposure to the elements and vast vistas with nothing to see except the characters involved - paying homage to Sergio Leone and his Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns. The story is a simple one: after hiding for 27 years, Butch discovers that his "nephew" (or possibly his son, which is never made totally clear - is the lad Butch's or Sundance's) is now orphaned in San Francisco. Having made enough money breeding horses, he decides to cash out and return to the states (and nevermind that said "orphan" nephew is now closer to 30 than 20). Of course things don't go well - he is shot at and his horse, with all his cash and guns, runs away. This leads to the introduction of a new sidekick, a Spanish engineer named Eduardo who convinces Butch to help him out of a jam with the promise of riches. Butch doesn't want to seem mercenary, just wants to get back the 6 grand he lost due to Eduardo shooting at him, but decides to help Eduardo escape the Indians who are pursuing him (who work for the mining company that Eduardo stole 50k from). There is a decent bonding story with some twists and turns, but the final twist is somewhat over the top; just as I found the reintroduction of Pinkerton agent Mackinley (nicely portrayed as a beaten down drunkard by Stephen Rea), while holding some nice possibilities to be sorely mishandled. That the film tries to infuse a No Country For Old Men sentiment in the interplay between Butch and MacKinley, it totally misses the mark, leaving MacKinley's justifications for his actions totally suspect. The film also backtracks quite a bit - flipping back 27 years to those last days on the run for Butch and Sundance and the girl who loves them both. I found these passages disconcerting and lacking any dramatic flair; and once again being at odds with itself. The glossing over of the original story would indicate that director Gil assumes you know all about Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (otherwise, why see this film at all?) - and yet by including parts of the back story (and more what-if scenarios) - he has to perforce show actors who not only do not look like Redford and Newman, but can't hold a candle to their acting chops. So Gil painted himself into a corner, creating for himself and his film a no win scenario. Too bad, for parts of the screenplay and parts of the cinematography do mesh and work quite well - which of course makes the parts that don't all the more glaring.

• Cynthia S

  
  This was rather well done......Legend has it that Butch and Sundance were killed in a shootout in Bolivia. There is a theory, however, that this legend is false. There actually seems to be evidence proving that it is more likely that Butch faked his death. This movie is based on that… More
  This was rather well done......Legend has it that Butch and Sundance were killed in a shootout in Bolivia. There is a theory, however, that this legend is false. There actually seems to be evidence proving that it is more likely that Butch faked his death. This movie is based on that theory, and gives us a fictional story of what could have happened in his later years. Sam Shepard is a very fine actor, and is supported by an equally fine cast. I found this movie very interesting, and enjoyable.

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  Cast: Sam Shepard, Stephen Rea, Magaly Solier, Eduardo Noriega, Daniel Aguirre, Dominique McElligott, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Padraic Delaney, Cristian Mercado, Luis Bredow Director: Mateo Gil Summary: This Western imagines the later career of Butch Cassidy, who escapes to… More
  Cast: Sam Shepard, Stephen Rea, Magaly Solier, Eduardo Noriega, Daniel Aguirre, Dominique McElligott, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Padraic Delaney, Cristian Mercado, Luis Bredow Director: Mateo Gil Summary: This Western imagines the later career of Butch Cassidy, who escapes to Bolivia where he leads a quiet life with the woman he loves. That is until he meets up with a Spanish robber who promises him one last adventure he can't refuse. My Thoughts: "I am not familiar with the story since I'm not a big fan of westerns Although this isn't really a traditional western either. That being said, I did enjoy the movie. I found the story to very interesting and I thought Sam Shepard did an amazing job. I liked the flashbacks cause it helped those like me ,who are not familiar with the story, get the back-story on what is going on and how he came to be the way he is. Enjoyable and worth seeing."

• Walter M

  
  With the world having thought him dead for twenty years, Butch Cassidy(Sam Shepard), aka James Blackthorn, can afford to relax on his ranch in Bolivia and spend some quality time with Yana(Magaly Solier). Still, he is restless and has gotten tired of waiting for Che Guevara to show… More
  With the world having thought him dead for twenty years, Butch Cassidy(Sam Shepard), aka James Blackthorn, can afford to relax on his ranch in Bolivia and spend some quality time with Yana(Magaly Solier). Still, he is restless and has gotten tired of waiting for Che Guevara to show up, so he sells his horses in order to return to his home country. But an altercation with Eduardo(Eduardo Noriega), a Spanish national, separates him from his horse and his money. To make it up to him and save his own life, Eduardo mentions the mine he just robbed. All of which gets Butch thinking of the old days when he used to ride with the Sundance Kid(Padraic Delaney) and Etta Place(Dominique McElligott, of "Hell on Wheels"). The best part of "Blackthorn" is the beautiful Bolivian scenery, especially the salt flats sequence. At the same time, that along with an extended cameo overshadow the lived-in and low-key performance from Sam Shepard which also fits in well with Butch Cassidy being more of a passive anti-hero this time around. But if you are going to the trouble to take a legendary outlaw like Cassidy out of cultural retirement, shouldn't one at least think of a better story that can stand on its own? For example, nothing against Bolivia of which we get some valuable history here, I think it would have worked out significantly better if this had been about Butch Cassidy already living in the United States as something of a living ghost.

• Jeffrey M

  
  Blackthorn is a truly great, meditative, smart, and beautiful Western that is also undoubtedly one of the best films of 2011. The screenplay is very well written, full of excellent dialogue and nuance. Sam Shepard's performance was also impressive, completely inhibiting the… More
  Blackthorn is a truly great, meditative, smart, and beautiful Western that is also undoubtedly one of the best films of 2011. The screenplay is very well written, full of excellent dialogue and nuance. Sam Shepard's performance was also impressive, completely inhibiting the character. The film is methodically paced, but still maintains the right atmosphere and tone throughout. Also of note is the exceptional cinematography, capturing the vastness of Bolivia while also giving it the appropriate western feel. Note: Though it is a continuation of the story left off in the brilliant Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the tone of Blackthorn is significantly different. That, and its' use of its' own flashbacks, should prevent anyone from thinking that it's a direct sequel, though it is essentially true to the earlier films' story.

• Cameron J

  
  Man, now that's one heck of a poster! It's all dark and pale, with Sam shepard holding a shotgun right in front of his serious face, with a title like "Blackthorn" bursting out from under the picture! Then, just as you're about to jump up and pump your fists… More
  Man, now that's one heck of a poster! It's all dark and pale, with Sam shepard holding a shotgun right in front of his serious face, with a title like "Blackthorn" bursting out from under the picture! Then, just as you're about to jump up and pump your fists in the air in the name of glorious manhood, you suddenly realize "Oh wait, this is another movie about Butch Cassidy...zzZZ-Top". Well, manly men, stop all of your dreaming about every girl being crazy about a sharp dressed man, because although this is certainly not "Hobo with a Shotgun Hits the Dusty Trails", as you would assume from the poster, it's still pretty entertaining, or at least in comparison of a certain other film. Okay, now, I have respect for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", but really, how could you turn a film about about "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", into a snooze-fest? Well, before Guy Ritchie gets a hold of that title, this is as close as we're gonna get when it comes to fully portraying the charisma in everyone's favorite train robber... by showing him in his old age? Okay, so it's not quite as riveting as "Wyatt Earp", (Yes, I said it) but it's still faster than "Butch and Sundance"... but then again, that's not saying much. Okay, with me calling this faster than "Butch and Sundance", I kept tap dancing around the fact that although this film isn't nearly as tedious as "Butch and Sundance", it's still pretty slow. Okay, it's really dull; maybe not tedious, but still too dull to keep you consistently engaged. It doesn't help that there comes a deal of points that feel rather monotonous and uninspired. Really, from development, to even the pretty weak soundtrack, so much of this film does feel rather unispired, but it does really pickup, but only towards the end, and that is too little, too late. I said earlier that this is about as close as we're gonna get with fully portraying the charisma in Cassidy, but really, I think I was a bit off, because from a writing standpoint, this doesn't so much feel like a fascinating "what-if" tale about a surviving Butch Cassidy, as much as it feels like your usual dime-a-dozen western storyline. Still, although the writing and directing isn't all there, Shepard is, enough so that most every loose end in the Butch Cassidy character left by the writers and director is tied up by him, and him alone. Still, although our filmmakers don't quite do as good of a job at setting the right tone in our character as our lead performer, there are a good deal of important things in the tone that they do a fine job at executing. Now, we've seen portrayals of the roaring early 1900s as lively, very modernized places, as well as portrayals of the old west as, well, dirt, but what a lot of people don't realize is that even as late as the 1920s, all you would have needed to do was step in the right direction before you found a world where these two radically different environments were one in the same. The production designers totally get that, giving this film such a western feel, but pulling back enough to fit in elements of the new world in a smooth and believable fashion. The cinematography also has a hand in setting that tone, as it has that grain and grit that you would find in any of Joe Schmo's westerns, but also has some glimpses of subtle, yet noticeable life and light to keep this environment feeling rather contemporary to its time. Still, if that's not enough to convince you of the time change, then allow me to say that the writers at least did something unique, and that would be those flashback sequences, which give us a chance to compare the two worlds and really see the major differences, giving us a sense of what Butch Cassidy might have gone through as the new world barreled in. Still, the real purpose those flashback sequences are to, well, force a sense that this is Butch Cassidy, and although they are rather entertaining and unique in terms of storytelling for a film like this, they still don't do much to establish our lead. Of course, that's where Shepard comes in, standing out from his cast of colorful fellow talents (Of course, just to be honest Stephen Rea is the best performance), by really embodying the slick charm and brood of Butch Cassidy in a layered and believable way, which is still way more than you can say about the filmmakers. The lack of inspiration behind the film definately dilutes Shepard's hard work, but he still really brings Cassidy back to life on the whole, providing the strong presence needed to become as compelling of a character as the certainly-late-by-now legend of a charismatic outlaw was. When it's all said and done, dullness is only one of the many reflections of the lack of inspiration that went into making this film nothing above an average western, but life and layers in both the production and acting set what tones they can well enough to leave "Blackthorn" to stand a still improvable, yet generally interesting study on the possible life Mr. Robert LeRoy Parker could have lead. 2.5/5 - Fair

• Christopher H

  
  Blackthorn depicts the life of Butch Cassidy as an old man, having survived the conclusion of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Blackthorn has all the bells and whistles of an old-fashioned Western and Sam Shepherd displays a true knack for the gritty gunslinger. The story holds up… More
  Blackthorn depicts the life of Butch Cassidy as an old man, having survived the conclusion of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Blackthorn has all the bells and whistles of an old-fashioned Western and Sam Shepherd displays a true knack for the gritty gunslinger. The story holds up the original and for a film that basically went completely under the radar, Blackthorn offers a truly great companion piece to the original, minus the flashbacks, which were completely unneeded.

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