WILD WEST MONDAY GUEST BLOGGER - DAVID CRANMER

David Cranmer's own blog, The Education of a Pulp Writer can be found HERE and together with Elaine Ash he also edits The Beat to a Pulp fiction site which can be found HERE


For Wild West Monday, Dave offers us his thoughts on the movie, Seraphim Falls.


Seraphim Falls

My favorite kind of movie starts with heart-pounding action then goes on to slowly reveal the back story—Seraphim Falls qualifies with its opening chase and follow-up. Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is being hunted by Carver (Liam Neeson) near Ruby Falls circa 1886. He's been wounded, nearly drowns after a plunge over the waterfall and must use a knife and some bullets to start a fire before he freezes to death. Classic edge of your seat suspense and Brosnan's acting is among the best of his career.

We learn that Gideon is an ex-Union captain who has traveled west to escape a brutal past while Carver is a former Confederate, who, for very personal reasons, can't let go of what happened during the war. The back and forth and one-upmanship between these two characters during the course of the film reminds me a little of Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune in Hell in the Pacific.

Neeson, of course, is one of the great actors of our time, and, like Daniel Day Lewis, his characters come to life with the sheer intensity he brings to each role. In Seraphim, the part could have easily been a one-dimensional man hunter type but—though it may not be Shindler or Rob Roy level—Neeson brings forth a multifaceted, in-depth characterization of the conflicted Carver.

My only gripe is the flashback that sets the storyline in motion is a little stagy and the emotional tug they were going for stops short. Still, Seraphim Falls is a first-class western adventure with swift action, fine acting and a moral story that sticks with you long after the final climatic scene.