Well Deserved Praise

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Cowboys & Aliens is fun. It could have been better, but it also could have been much, much worse. I like the original premise, the visual effects are impressive (I loved the alien attacks) and the acting isn't bad, either. However, this film is flat and predictable. I know they deliberately tried to avoid campy-ness, but I wonder if this movie would have been better with a little dose of humor.

Aliens have landed in the American Wild West to obtain gold & kidnap a few locals. Good job James Bond, I mean a ripped Daniel Craig, is on hand to take them on along with Harrison Ford and a motley bunch of bandits, Indians & town folk. With it's somewhat silly title I expected this to be a comedy, and while there are a few funny one liners in the script it is sadly played straight. In fact it's probably too scary for younger audiences. Big budget, big names but after a promising start I thought that it flatlined until the action packed finale, by which time I'd lost a lot of interest. I watched this at home on my 28" TV, no doubt it would have been far better on the big screen but at least I didn't pay for the privilege.

Spielberg is still Spielberg! A master story tell, and even for a concept that, on the surface, seems just plain out silly, this movie holds one's attention all the way through. Contrasting with High Plains Invaders: it's notch (or so) better camera work, a notch (or so) better acting, and about 3 notches better screenplay. (Story is intricate enough without being overdone, gives a richness that was missing from Invaders.) And of course, several notches higher on budget. That always helps, when you know what to do with it.Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, of course, deliver wonderful performances. Not Harrison's finest role, but he gives it his usual presence and under-stated power. Daniel Craig... well. He's always playing Daniel Craig, and he does it so very well.

Had this movie been made 20 years earlier, it doubtless would have been in the running for a special effects Oscar. But in the first two decades of the 21st century, the output of Hollywood has been saturated with fantasy, dark world, sci-fi, horror and fast action films. So, all the special effects, computer-generated imagery (CGI) and ghoulish creatures are becoming blasé. What is left on which to judge or rate a movie then? Not much, including the acting. These films form a body of work that can best be described as movies of mayhem. "Cowboys & Aliens" is a perfect example of this genre. It has the thinnest and simplest of plots, but quite far out. Indeed, such films can't carry much of a plot or it gets lost completely in the mayhem. The more bizarre, the better it seems to build on the mayhem. At the end of such a film, one is sort of dazed by the endless speed and noise. The cast is headlined by big names Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. But anyone could play these undistinguished roles. This movie was a lame attempt to combine the sci-fi of space with a Western, and it just doesn't resonate as a plot. Give me a good old Western or modern space movie (Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.) any day. But this high-priced film belongs in the trash can with the rest of the modern schlock being passed off as entertainment. In a moment of weakness, I gave it four stars, mostly for the sets, camera work and special effects.