thePeanutBloggery

Set in the American West in 1868, Seraphim Falls explodes into action with a shot from a rifle that meets its mark, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan), and sends him fleeing down a snowy ridge, bleeding from the shoulder, with Carver (Liam Neeson), a man intent on revenge, and his band of man-hunters in close pursuit. The thrilling first thirty minutes is filled with the promise of an action-packed modern western in the tradition of Silverado and Unforgiven. But it’s not long before the pursuit grows tiresome (for the audience more than the cowboys) and the unending gore gratuitous. As the men descend from the cold mountain peaks to the heat-cracked desert, so too does the film plummet into horse entrails, pseudo-intellectual hallucinations, and an ultimately dissatisfying and unbelievable ending.

What makes this especially disappointing is that Pierce Brosnan is so good as Gideon, the die-hard cowboy who is haunted by memories of his crimes as a soldier and the sons he lost in the war. Unrecognizable as the former polished James Bond or Remington Steele, his aged eyes peering out from behind a cloak of gray hair and natty beard, Brosnan grunts and groans his way through a performance that might have done for him what Far From Heaven did for Dennis Quaid or Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.

Filmed in New Mexico and Oregon, the scenery is vast and impressive. Unfortunately, like Brosnan’s performance, it is wasted on such a thin story. The lesson learned here is no matter how impressive the cast or pretty the cinematography, do not hold high hopes for any movie released the last weekend in January.