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Throughout his long and storied career, Nicolas Cage has starred in a variety of films—everything from sci-fi to rom-com. But with The Old Way, he takes on a new genre, donning a cowboy hat and boots and picking up a pistol for his first Western.
The Old Way stars Cage as Colton Briggs, a former gunslinger who’s given up his old life to run the local mercantile and live out on the range with his wife and daughter. But then James McAllister (Noah Le Gros), the son of a man Briggs killed decades ago, shows up looking for revenge. He and his men kill Briggs’s beloved wife, causing Briggs to return to his old ways, packing up his young daughter, Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and heading out to track his wife’s killers.
Though a team of lawmen is already on the case, tracking McAllister and his men, that isn’t good enough for Briggs. McAllister has called him out, and he needs to finish this himself. What follows is a pretty conventional story of vengeance in the Old West, where the men are tough and strong—and where every action comes with consequences. It’s gritty and sometimes melodramatic—a good fit for Cage, who plays strong, silent, and dangerous well, growling and scowling and staring off into the distance. The biggest surprise, really, is that it took him so long to star in a Western—because he seems right at home here.
But what makes this film stand out from the typical Western film, with its story of Old West justice, is the little girl who travels at her father’s side. Brooke is a precocious kid—clever and resourceful. She’s clearly learned from life in the wilderness. She takes everything very seriously—from her schoolwork to the mercantile business to their mission to avenge her mother’s death. Like her gunslinger father, she doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion, but she’s just as set on revenge as he is—and she’s forced to do a lot of growing up along the way. And together, the two leads—this strong, brooding gunslinger and his determined daughter—bring plenty of grit and resolve to the story.
Admittedly, The Old Way doesn’t really bring anything new to the Western genre; it’s pretty standard Western fare—only with a shorter-than-normal runtime. But Cage’s fans will enjoy seeing him in this role that just makes perfect sense.
The Old Way arrives in theaters on January 6, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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