Ignore the current movie poster above - American Outlaws does not star Stallone or Banderas but instead Colin Farrell as Jesse James and his outlaws; Cole Younger/Scott Caan, Frank James/Gabriel Macht, Jim Younger/Gregory Smith, and Bob Younger/Will McCormack. The movie is a modern-western movie that is set in terms of locations and costumes in the old west but made more modern with fancy gunfire, exciting explosions, and enough corny dialogue that no true westerner would ever utter.

Easily, American Outlaws could be dismissed as a horrible experiment to merge the action/adventure genre with an old western story and for quite a few reviewers out there – it has been. But I found a bit of fun with this movie. I didn't take it seriously. It was fun to watch. The action was both energizing and inventive. And although the love story was a bit of a bore and unrealistic (did Jesse James really believe he could settle down in pubic view?) American Outlaws is not the worse movie I've seen.

If you don't know who Jesse James is let me explain. He was an American outlaw and former Confederate solider in the Civil War. After the war he returned home where he found his family and friends suppressed by the outcome of the war which led to his bandit career. History records that he was indeed shot at one point and started a courtship with Zerelda Zee Mimms/Ali Larter and started robbing banks, fairs, stagecoaches, and eventually trains. But that's where history and the movie start to really separate. The movie, American Outlaws makes Jesse's gang out to be Robin Hood bandits that stole from the rich and gave to the poor, robbed trains to prevent the railroad from being built through their towns, and the movie does little to show the murders that the gang did solely out of spite.

I think the movie succeeds largely on the carefree performances of the James-Younger gang and how enjoyable it is to see them outwit the "bad guys" those representing the railroad, Thaddeus Rains/Harris Yulin, Rollin H. Parker/Terry O'Quinn, and Allan Pinkerton/Timothy Dalton especially Pinkerton who both admires the gangs inventiveness even if he is attempting to stop them in their tracks. It gets a little boring hearing Pinkerton continuously tell Rains that it will take time to track down the gang but thankfully little time is spent telling their story leaving more time for interaction both positive and negative within the James-Younger gang. The love story felt a bit "shoved" into the movie for time sake but opened up the concluding action sequence.

Overall, I enjoyed American Outlaws. I will freely admit that when I first saw it on TNT I channeled away from it but soon found myself watching it attentively. Thankfully, my dual tuner Tivo had kept it from the beginning and I was able to enjoy it completely. It may not be a great western but it is not a bad movie nonetheless.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS