Seraphim Falls

Movies like Seraphim Falls, a revenge western set shortly after the end of the Civil War, are becoming an endangered species, which is too bad. It's a proud motion picture genre, proven once again with this magnificently photographed and acted big-star effort. It is primal time for Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson as they deliver performances that are tough as nails in what really amounts to a western version of The Fugitive (and it's every bit as exciting). Neeson plays a Colonel who is hunting down Brosnan, a wartime adversary with whom he apparently has a big beef. It's not clear for most of the film's two-hour running time just who is the good guy and who is the bad guy, if either, but watching these two play out their determined cat and mouse game against the sweeping, snow-covered mountains (beautifully caught in two-time Oscar winning cinematographer John Toll's camera) is pretty damn riveting stuff. Most intriguing are the inventive ways Brosnan's intense man-on-the-run is able to weasel his way out of so many precarious situations. One scene in which he kills his horse in order to "hide" is particularly sick, but fascinating. Refreshingly devoid of special effects and CGI gimmickry, this is a survival story that is bare to the bones and all the better for it. Check it out. Seraphim Falls is the kind of big, beautiful widescreen action-adventure we just don't get to see much anymore.