Shadowheart (2009) (V)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Dean Alioto

Writers:

Dean Alioto (screenplay) and
Peter Vanderwall (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 August 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

James Conners came for Revenge... He found Redemption.

Plot:

James Conners comes home to the town of Legend, New Mexico in 1865 to avenge his fathers death against the ruthless Will Tunney...

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title

Cast

Angus Macfadyen	...	Will Tunney
Justin Ament	...	James Conners
Marnie Alton	...	Mary Cooper
Tonantzin Carmelo	...	Miakoda
Michael Spears	...	Washakie
William Sadler	...	Thomas Conners
Dean Alioto	...	Spider
Ines Dali	...	Velma
Anthony Michael Jones	...	Charlie
Courtney Gains	...	Finch
Shawn Reaves	...	Johny Cooper
Charles Napier	...	Sheriff Sanders
Daniel Baldwin	...	Mr. McKinley
Steve Pink	...	O'Toole
Rance Howard	...	Wedding Preacher

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some intense western violence.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45331) | USA:PG-13 (Violence)

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Desert Moon Pictures

Trivia:

The film was dedicated to Justin Ament's Grandfather who died right before production.

Soundtrack:

She's almost exactly

Shadow-Cliché

Being a proud member of Amazon.com's Vine reviewers, I found myself pondering why some movies were available on occasion (usually ones I've never heard of), while others were not. I also consider myself a responsible reviewer; in other words, I'll read, sample, or watch whatever it is I get from Amazon's Vine program, regardless of what it looks like on the outside. Unfortunately, a pattern is emerging for The Vine program films. These are the seldom heard of ones I mentioned earlier. To give you an idea as to what types of films are being offered through The Vine, I'll use this one — SHADOWHEART — as an example.

First, let's take into consideration the fact that the film was produced by first-time film production company Desert Moon Pictures. Okay. So. Big deal. Now let's look at the main actor, Justin Ament. His film repertoire is not exactly stellar. He's had a lot of uncredited work (see "extra"), obviously trying to break into Hollywood's mainstream. He's written two screenplays: this one, and another for THE PATH OF EVIL. The Path of Evil, like Shadowheart, hasn't been lauded as very good cinema. But why? Well, the easy answer is that the films just aren't that well thought-out nor well put together. In Shadowheart, we see cliché after cliché, and old character after old character. It's a recycle mish-mash of seriously poor proportions. Think of just about every Italian western starring Clint Eastwood and you'll have seen every character in this film many times over.

The only exception to the poor characters is Angus Macfadyen (best known for his role as Robert the Bruce in BRAVEHEART) as the wicked — but still cliché stereotype — Will Tunney. He played (perhaps overplayed) the role of the ruthless and amoral killer and made it, at the very least, fun to watch.

Everything else in this story was completely predictable. When I saw the young protagonist with the young girl in the beginning, I knew what would befall them long before it actually happened. And when I saw the sheriff trying to take the dastardly Will Tunney to the next town for imprisonment and possible hanging, I knew they'd never make it there. And this list of obviousness goes on and on and on and on.

So, getting back to my original quandary: why are some films available on The Vine and others aren't. Well, it's becoming painfully obvious now. Those DVDs that can't sell are given away in hopes of finding a sympathetic audience. But I simply cannot sympathize with drivel such as this. I'll write my review and post it for all to condone or trash, but I simply cannot give this film a positive spin when there's simply none to be found.