‘The Outlaws’ Review – A Western Boiled Down to the Essentials

The Western is one of the oldest genres in film history. The romantic vistas of the West, the fierce individualism of the brutal colonizers who settled it, and the notion that life and justice are only as secure as far as one can shoot are among the genre’s most storied elements. The highest point of tension, then, often lies well outside the boundaries of the law, especially among groups of outlaws who have no resource but violence when they find themselves at a crossroads. The Outlaws, directed by Joey Palmroos and Austen Paul, sits at this point of tension, following a loose band of outlaws who successfully rob a train… and then are robbed by one of their own.

At under 80 minutes, it’s a lean, mean tale where nobody really trusts anyone, centered around a singularly simple premise and its accompanying paranoia. Weighed against our world of exceedingly long runtimes, that’s largely a blessing. It’s laser-focused, each of the characters gets a moment to shine, and it’s devoid of the sort of extraneous elements or storylines that have dampened the potential of many films and TV series. On the other hand, its characters could be better developed, the story at times seems too thin, and the relative lack of emotional weight reduces the impact of some of the film’s finer elements. It’s a film with good (though certainly not revolutionary) pieces, but one that needs to be fleshed out.

What is ‘The Outlaws’ About?

Four outlaws–gruff leader “Wild Bill” Higgins (Arthur Sylense), safecracker Boone Collins (a charismatic Jonathan Peacy), the ruthless Henriette Parker (Celeste Wall), and the mysterious J.T. Tulsa (Dallas Hart)–set off with a large bundle of gold coins after a successful train robbery. The ill-gotten goods are bagged, and will be split evenly after one day’s travel to rendezvous with Wild Bill’s father, “Bloody Tom” Higgins (Eric Roberts). The thieves don’t trust each other, but with the bag tied to each of the sleeping travelers on their one night in the wilderness, what could go wrong? After the first night’s sleep, Wild Bill discovers the bag full of rocks. In the middle of the night, the gold went somewhere, and one of the crew is to blame. The gaggle of thieves has to overcome or survive mutual distrust to figure out who stole the gold without killing each other (a danger actually shown to the audience early on in a cheeky scene of a possible future) or succumbing to outside forces.

As a whole, Westerns are perfect genre vehicles for stories about mutually distrusting criminals and double-crosses, recently exemplified in Quentin Tarantino‘s tale of bandits and bounty hunters, The Hateful Eight. With little legal recourse and the traditional vestiges of civilization largely eroded, how can any of these decidedly untrustworthy people trust each other? Here, they can’t. Trust was thin to start (ergo tying every thief to the bag of loot), then immediately gone upon the treasure’s disappearance. It’s a key Western theme boiled down to its essentials, with all the narrative expediency of a six-shooter’s bullet. But does it miss?

‘The Outlaws’ Is a Streamlined but Thin Exploration of the Paranoia of the West

From moment one, even before the gold mysteriously disappears, the tension between thieves is apparent. Jonathan Peacy makes a memorable and suspicious outlaw in Boone, while Arthur Sylense capably showcases Wild Bill’s menacing leadership, and Henriette’s violent tendencies are performed with a pleasantly odd charisma thanks to Celeste Wall. When Eric Roberts’ Bloody Tom arrives in a very noteworthy scene, he makes an immediate splash and establishes his true danger and motivations. Character development in the central narrative is complimented by a few tactically placed flashbacks, each efficient in its runtime and impact. The film is also laudable for its establishment of a wide range of different, and changing, interests, successfully fueling a stream of conflict and paranoia. Each character is always in search of their perceived greatest advantage, producing an engaging (sometimes quite funny) tension as it goes along.

Another virtue that should be noted is that the movie’s interludes and flashbacks add color and creativity to a tale that could be far too simple. There’s a moment when a classic Western tale of betrayal is told, and the cinematography style switches from the film’s default modern style to a black-and-white stylistic replica of the films of an earlier era. Along with self-conscious, often meta voiceover, brief but revealing flashbacks, and Tarantino-esque title cards, these elements add some layers to elevate the world beyond its baseline details. The flashbacks and asides do well to introduce revealing elements of the characters’ pasts, and they never stay longer than they’re welcome.

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While the narrative simplicity and the efficiency of the tale and its runtime largely work for a singular story, it also causes some problems for the tale’s ultimate depth. The characters aren’t fully hollow, especially due to the well-placed reveals that are well-suited to explain the characters’ most visible central trait, but there’s little beyond that (and literally no interactions besides the central issue of the missing criminal). It leaves little character development beyond what an average pharmaceutical ad would provide: ‘Here’s a person with one precise problem! Effects include paranoia, missing gold, and possible death.’ There are interesting twists of character, but beyond the readjustment of a singular fact that audiences thought they knew, there’s little nuance or complexity in any of them.

Just as the characters would benefit from greater development, so too would both the story as a whole and its emotional impact. If audiences knew more about the characters’ selves, they’d matter more on an emotional level, which always means that audiences care more about what happens to them. Additionally, it’s a story so honed that it’s essentially only the central plot with no bells and whistles. Another 10 or so minutes spent on character, which the film’s runtime could afford, could have made a genuine world of difference.

‘The Outlaws’ Is Still a Western Worth Watching

There are clear virtues to The Outlaws. It has one central thing to do, on which it is laser-focused, and it does that one thing fairly well. Characters’ actions add weight to the others’ mutual paranoia, and we’re given just enough insight to understand those actions. While it does this well, the film still should have tried to accomplish a little more.

The Outlaws is, for the most part, engaging. It’s the breeziest film audiences might see all year, hits its marks, and has characters who are fun to watch (though for the most part they’d be more memorable if fleshed out). The film is so wedded to having no narrative fat that it is, genuinely, impressive, though a little inadvisable. It’s an okay film that could be great with a subplot or two, elevated somewhat by its performers’ full commitment and the humorous consistency of their tendencies toward betrayal. For the most part, it hits the targets it aims for, but it might be nice to have a few more targets and bullets in the rhetorical chamber.

REVIEW

The Outlaws (2024)

The Outlaws is a lean Western tale of paranoia and betrayal that mostly hits the target, but lacks greater all-around development.

Pros

• The film?s narrative packs enough twists and interludes to make a largely engaging tale of dishonor among thieves.
• Committed performances bring life to its characters, with Bloody Tom and Boone standing out in charismatic turns.

Cons

• The lean script could use greater depth and complexity in plot and character development.
• It?s too threadbare to truly stand out as a unique film that doesn?t just capably echo elements of the myriad Westerns that came before.

The Outlaws is now available to stream on VOD in the U.S.

WATCH ON VOD