Must See Movie...

A different way of telling a story

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by this film. It isn't a big budget block buster, but it is just plain fun. The witty sarcastic humor had me entertained at all times. There is a silliness to it, but it is balanced out with some action and a little romance. The acting was very impressive, especially for a title I'd never heard of. Nothing looks cheaply done, despite it being a low budget film. It doesn't have the flair or extravagance of a block buster, but it is remarkably well put together for what they had to work with. I enjoyed every minute of it and even watched it again with my family, who all also loved it. It reminded us of the old movie "Support Your Local Sheriff". (If you've ever seen that). Pay attention to the dialogue, the witty humor makes the movie.

When is a Western not quite your average run-of-the-mill Western? When it's Canadian and it's "Gunless".Paul Gross (magnificently) plays the Montana Kid, -- an American gun- slinger and outlaw who crosses over the Canadian border courtesy of a botched hanging and his wayward horse. Having arrived at a small village, half-dead and stinking to high heaven, the local community of a dozen or so individuals (including the village idiot) become obsessed with the Kid as his notoriety is legendary. The Kid manages to get into a situation with the village blacksmith (fueled by the fact that the blacksmith was doing the Kid a favor but the Kid doesn't see it that way) and this results in a duel. However, the blacksmith has no six-shooter therefore the Kid must provide him with one and the only gun available is broken. What will happen when the gun is finally repaired?I don't want to give too much away but to say that the script is cleverly and masterfully written. There are plenty of dark comedic elements. Paul Gross could almost pass for young Jack Nicholson and plays the role of the Kid oozing with charisma and an acting charm that immediately won me over. Time and care is taken to build the characters in the village without over-burdening you. The characters are likable, appealing and entertaining.If you like your movies full of mindless violence, cursing or shots crammed with 110 MPH computer generated objects, then this movie is not for you as there is none of the above. If you are looking for extremely entertaining albeit different 'Western' that is dripping with great acting (courtesy of Paul Gross), great writing, dark (but family orientated) humor, great vistas and above all great entertainment, you can't go wrong with Gunless. It's a rare gem indeed.

No, this is not the "The Forgotten" or "Dancing with Wolves". This is a comedy Western in the vein of "Cat Ballou" or of "The Frisco Kid" although for me "Gunless" is much more of a hoot. Clearly not a large studio production, this lack of glitz in no way impedes this movie.With its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, this fun exercise in the cowboy genre never takes itself too seriously. The result is a very watchable light-hearted film.The hero (The Montana Kid) is played by Paul Gross (Men with Brooms) in an understated yet almost John Wayne manner. I found myself wishing that he and his character would return in a sequel or a TV series. He often made me smile, if not chuckle out loud with his sarcastic deadpan delivery and excellent timing.The script is well done and the dialogue is sweet and refreshing.The movie has unabashed heart without being sappy. I was very surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. The outtakes at the end are very funny also. Clearly they had a lot of fun making this sweet little nonsense of a movie.

The ethical clash of the old Law of the West and the new Rule of Law, explored by John Ford in the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has an up-beat sequel in Gunless. In the sequel, the gunslinger is not shot with the rifle of the friend of the harmless lawyer ... he is saved from being shot by the rifle of harmless man he has sworn to kill from the forces of Law and Order. Law and Order is represented by the merciless bounty hunter who can tell if someone is telling the truth just by looking at them crooked. In Gunless, the gunslinger lives long enough to regret his killings and to reform his own character. The climax is the gunslinger's recollection of his killings and how each killing was required to maintain the self-image resulting from his first killing. Then with just a touch of the Rashomon effect, he admits he never even had justification for his first killing. Add a dash of Aristotle to suggest what character is and how it can be changed ... has any other movie been able to pull that off? The result is neither drama nor comedy but something more like a morality play. Not since Groundhog Day have I seen a movie with so many levels of meaning, and not since Galaxy Quest have I seen a movie with more satisfying ending.