Overall, The Ballad of Lefty Brown is a gorgeous movie with magnificent characters. The story is an original, well written tale that boasts a new kind of hero. Bill Pullman channels his inner cowboy and gives an amazing performance. The cinematography is amazing, with beautiful scenes of the west. This a movie that a true fan of film would love.
The Ballad of Lefty Brown is an homage to westerns with themes of justice and loyalty. When his best friend is murdered, Lefty doesn’t hesitate to go after the killer and uncover the mystery behind it. Lefty Brown is a stubborn, old cowboy who takes the law into his own hands to avenge his partner. Bill Pullman gives one of his best performances, as Lefty, in this love letter movie to westerns. The Ballad of Lefty Brown is not only a great story, but the scenes and pictures are beautiful. It is hard having an original story when it comes to westerns, but this succeeds. The film has awesome characters that surprise you with every scene.
Edward Johnson, portrayed by Peter Fonda, seems to be the only one who cares for Lefty. Others pass him off as an aloof and difficult guy. Even Edward’s wife isn’t too fond of Lefty. After Edward’s death, Lefty takes it on his own to track down the killer. Along the way he makes a companion in a young boy, Jeremiah. On their journey through Montana, the two not only face outlaws, but take on betrayal after betrayal. In this tale of revenge, nothing with stop Lefty.
Not only are the characters special, the plot is fantastic. I never knew what was coming. I had my mind set on a western with a straightforward story. That was not what I got, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story took a little bit to get going. Once the action started, I was on the edge of my seat.
The action in the film was awesome and felt very realistic to what the times would have been like, as I am speculating. There wasn’t bullets flying, it felt like watching real cowboys being careful and precise with their shots. One thing to note, was the heroes take hits and get hurt!
The Ballad of Lefty Brown begs the question how far would you go for your best friend?
