I fully expected this film to have a relatively low IMDb rating (5.8 as I write this), but I thought it was a pretty good Western. One thing I need to clear up from the movie's title page here on IMDb and also touched on by a number of reviewers, was the location of the main story. It opened with a scene taking place in 1846 in Helena, Texas, which is where some viewers believe the rest of the tale took place. But twenty two years later, the focus shifts to the town of Mount Hermon where Abraham Brant (Woody Harrelson) holds sway as the town boss and it's loquacious preacher. I guess it doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but I like to be accurate about these things.
Part of the plot here appears to be based on the 1932 film "The Most Dangerous Game", itself based on a short story of the same name by Richard Connell in 1924. That has to do with the fact that Preacher Abraham is running a hunting camp for foreign adventurers who want to know what it's like to kill people. The prey consists of captured Mexicans who are held in a cage, separated from their families, and left starving until the hunt is about to begin. Sounds a bit like a political statement being made here but who am I to judge, it didn't appear like any of them were requesting asylum. Assigned the task of discovering what's happened to missing Mexicans along the border, Texas Ranger David Kingston goes undercover with an assumed name, going by Locke. Taking his wife along under duress, David initially gains Abraham's favor and is made town sheriff, though it's later revealed that Abraham knew David's real identity as the son of a man that the Preacher killed in an arm strapped duel back in 1846 Helena.
There are some interesting elements that pop up in the story, like Abraham's branding of a town prostitute (Felicity Price) with the letter 'A' on her thigh indicating that he 'owns' her, and Abraham's fascination with snake handling during his call to Jesus sermons. Playing it safe, Abraham doesn't use serpents of a poisonous variety like some modern day Pentecostals, he's content to handle what looks like a collection of corn snakes and milk snakes, quite colorful I might add, and actually beneficial to keep a rodent population down. There's also a rather clever twist in the story that blows by quickly and isn't highlighted, and that's the idea that David knew Spanish the entire time Abraham was warning him with a threat to his life. Not very savvy of Abraham there, knowing that Davis was married to a Mexican wife (Alice Braga).
That last point was probably the most underdeveloped part of the story. It seemed that part of Marisol's (Braga) discontent with her husband was based on the fact that her own father 'gave' her to David right before dying. She fell under Abraham's evil eye while disadvantaged with some mysterious ailment, and it leaves a big question mark at the end of the story as to the resolution of her marital relationship. Not so for the fate of The Preacher. Again, with a little bit of a twist, Abraham has his own come to Jesus moment in a final showdown with David. You might say that the evil town boss found himself caught between a rock and a hard place.
Part of the plot here appears to be based on the 1932 film "The Most Dangerous Game", itself based on a short story of the same name by Richard Connell in 1924. That has to do with the fact that Preacher Abraham is running a hunting camp for foreign adventurers who want to know what it's like to kill people. The prey consists of captured Mexicans who are held in a cage, separated from their families, and left starving until the hunt is about to begin. Sounds a bit like a political statement being made here but who am I to judge, it didn't appear like any of them were requesting asylum. Assigned the task of discovering what's happened to missing Mexicans along the border, Texas Ranger David Kingston goes undercover with an assumed name, going by Locke. Taking his wife along under duress, David initially gains Abraham's favor and is made town sheriff, though it's later revealed that Abraham knew David's real identity as the son of a man that the Preacher killed in an arm strapped duel back in 1846 Helena.
There are some interesting elements that pop up in the story, like Abraham's branding of a town prostitute (Felicity Price) with the letter 'A' on her thigh indicating that he 'owns' her, and Abraham's fascination with snake handling during his call to Jesus sermons. Playing it safe, Abraham doesn't use serpents of a poisonous variety like some modern day Pentecostals, he's content to handle what looks like a collection of corn snakes and milk snakes, quite colorful I might add, and actually beneficial to keep a rodent population down. There's also a rather clever twist in the story that blows by quickly and isn't highlighted, and that's the idea that David knew Spanish the entire time Abraham was warning him with a threat to his life. Not very savvy of Abraham there, knowing that Davis was married to a Mexican wife (Alice Braga).
That last point was probably the most underdeveloped part of the story. It seemed that part of Marisol's (Braga) discontent with her husband was based on the fact that her own father 'gave' her to David right before dying. She fell under Abraham's evil eye while disadvantaged with some mysterious ailment, and it leaves a big question mark at the end of the story as to the resolution of her marital relationship. Not so for the fate of The Preacher. Again, with a little bit of a twist, Abraham has his own come to Jesus moment in a final showdown with David. You might say that the evil town boss found himself caught between a rock and a hard place.