The Age of Commercialism

hyped garbage

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This film keeps you entertained enough to remain waiting, and waiting and waiting. Then, it's over. Not a great product but not too terribly bad either. William Forsythe is the hard-to-like character highlight and the most renowned actor on this film. Not much action but when it does finally come, it may at least surprise you.

It's no masterpiece. How COULD it be, with a budget that must have been barely enough to feed the two disenfranchised ex Confederate families in Texas? One family traps animals; the other, disenfranchised by the Civil War, the McCluskeys, steals some of the animals and trespasses on the other's property. The conflict is intensified by a Romeo/Juliet romance between a slightly reptilian McCluskey boy and the pretty blond daughter of the other family. James Badge Dale returns from the war to join the offended family, figures things out, is unable to control the violent impulses he's acquired, and it leads to bloodshed.No masterpiece, no, but a fine piece of low-budget and deliberately paced film making, with no simple crap about evil people and good people. That is, of course the formerly rich family shouldn't steal from their neighbors. But -- should they all be slaughtered, including the helpless old matriarch, for having done so? Or even for having accidentally shot and killed a young son of their adversaries? Is it up to one man to make that judgment? The dialog is limited and sometimes elliptical. (Thanks, Terence Malick.) I like William Forsythe, my co-star in the unforgettable, umm, what was it again? Yes, "Weeds." He doesn't get to do much but scowl. Maika Monroe is the pretty daughter, Abigail. That beastly name alone deserves a prize for originality -- no Mary Jo, no Scarlett, no Corey Sue, no Ariadne, no Kimmy, just plain old Abigail, a dusty old name for the wife of a dusty old president. James Badge Dale does a phenomenal job, really. His features always seem to be broadcasting one or another variation of "confused." Two other things. One is that the violence is subdued and there's a whole bathtub full of it at the end. Another is that the musical score by Hanan Townshend seems to consist of one extended, ominous chord. It fits the story, in which no one seems to be having much of a good time except when Abigail and her forbidden boy friend are rooting around on the pebbly shore of a small creek.I don't know why there are so many insults directed at it.

A. Even if you can download this off the internet and get it for free, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! B. Supposed to be a Western era period piece but the characters talk like modern urbanites. C. The story is unimaginative, mundane, and clichéd. D. The dialogue is so horribly written, who the heck were the idiots who read this trite B.S. and figured it was a good script to make? E. The pacing of the whole film is sooooo slow, it is soooo mundane. F. The acting is downright laughable. These poor people who were acting in it looked stiff and stilted. G. I should've watched the trailer before I saw this. Even the trailer is insipid. H. The directing is non existent. The shots in this film are stale and trivial. I. Even if you can download this off the internet, get it for free, AND someone pays you to watch it...DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!

Screenwriters John Chriss and Kane Senes have provided a screenplay filled with way too many western cliché's and not enough original content. Re Senes' direction, the sluggish pace causes this film to spiral out of control. The acting in the film is also weak. James Badge Dale is very one dimensional in his role as the war veteran. William Forsythe's character is also a lost cause: acting as the antagonist in the film, you neither understand, nor do you care about the events of his past that have lead to the person he is now. Echoes of War is a film that struggles to resonate any true enjoyment for its viewers. A story that is not original and is in fact quite boring, it is destined to ride off into the sunset and out of our memories very quickly. Don't waste one second of your time on this film. You can thank me later!