The Ballad of Lefty Brown

Moshe relates his tale of can-do vengeance with an unfussy clarity and an obvious fondness for the oaters of yesterday’s Hollywood — an affection that, as in Burden, imparts a winning sincerity.

Moshe’s approach turns the Western genre on its head by having the sidekick rise up as the hero.

Having already given us a shootout or two, the film grows more involving as Lefty fights for both his life and his good name. Pullman has no trouble making the character sympathetic, even as he maintains the near-ineptitude Lefty's known for.

By giving the spotlight to an archetype usually relegated to the background, writer-director Jared Moshé puts a revisionist spin on the familiar oater, but everything else about The Ballad of Lefty Brown is by the book.

Pullman is always great to watch, the Montana landscapes are gorgeously captured by cinematographer David McFarland, and there are a couple of action set pieces that spark.

The Ballad Of Lefty Brown’s lack of flash keeps it from sinking comfortably into pastiche, but it doesn’t make for thrilling viewing.

The Ballad of Lefty Brown, the sophomore effort from director-producer Jared Moshe, invests blind faith in the classic western format and shows just how hollow genre films can prove when they strive too earnestly towards imitation.

Every once in a while someone tries to take a shot at the western genre, seemingly in an attempt to flog that long dead horse back to life again, but the result is at best iffy, in the case of the ballad of left brown we get a snore feast. My god what is this movie boring. This can be totally written down to the pace of the movie, the predictable plot, the run-of-the-mill characters, and the weak dialog. Bill Pullman, playing the title role, is not a bad actor, but without anything to make the the character remotely interesting any acting effort is wasted. The director is a master in making ill use of the conflict brewing between Lefty and the wife of his former friend, neglecting to use the landscapes and any the lack of having interesting cinema photography. It is a marvel to notice in the far distance the chance for a nice landscape shot that is totally lost on the director who prefers to have his sky lines blocked with shrubbery and brush. What is even worse, this movie, like many others, as has been pointed out by a critic, suffers of the one color scheme curse. Everything is dusty earth tones. It is the easy lazy digitalization method. The result is a plodding colorless movie. It is a pity, for the idea behind, a sidekick who gets forced into the limelight, who has a strenuous relation with his former friends wife and has nothing going for him that taking revenge could have been interesting.