THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN – Review

Bill Pullman as Lefty Brown in THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN. Photo by Ezra Olson. Courtesy of A24 ©

THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN has a classic Western story but with a different twist: this time the sidekick is the hero.

In the late 1880s, Lefty Brown (Bill Pullman) is the long-time friend and partner of legendary Montana lawman turned rancher Eddie Johnson (Peter Fonda), who has just been elected senator from the new state. Eddie and his strong-willed wife Laura (Kathy Baker) are preparing to leave for Washington, D.C. and Eddie plans to leave his loyal friend Lefty in charge of his ranch. It is a plan his wife opposes, arguing that Lefty isn’t up to the job and is little more than a useless hanger-on who has been living off his friend for years. Even modest Lefty might agree he’s not up to the task: at 63, he walks with a limp, seems overly cautious, is more fond of talk than work, and even seems a bit befuddled. He does what Eddie asks but he doesn’t show much initiative. Still, none of that matters to Eddie, who values his old friend’s steadfast loyalty. He stands by Lefty as his friend always stood by him.

But before Eddie can leave, a ranch hand reports some of his horses have been stolen, and Eddie and Lefty ride out to investigate. When Eddie is murdered in an ambush by a vicious horse thief named Frank (Joe Anderson), everything changes. Lefty knows there is only thing he can do – find the killer.

Eddie’s death brings in two of Eddie’s friends from back in their younger Wild West days. Tom Harrah (Tommy Flanagan) was a legendary lawman, who after years of alcoholism is now back on the job as a U.S. Marshall. Tom is there with the grieving widow Laura when word arrives from the third friend, Jimmy Bierce (Jim Caviezel), now Montana’s governor, that he has called out the military to hunt down the killer. There is no need to Lefty and Tom to track him down and, in fact, the Governor would rather they stay out of the way. But nothing can stop Lefty from going after his partner’s killer, and so Tom goes with him.

During the search, Lefty comes across a lost young man named Jeremiah (Diego Josef), who has ambitious to be a gunslinger. The teen is packing a couple of pistols and a passel of Western dime-novels, including one’s extolling the legendary heroics of Eddie Johnson, Tom Harrah and Jimmy Bierce. Lefty is not mentioned, as the young man tells him. Nonetheless, Jeremiah joins the search, eager to ride with the legendary lawman Tom Harrah.

Laura’s opinion of Lefty is harsh but neither Harrah nor Bierce have a high opinion of him either. Tom Harrah knows he can count on Lefty in a pinch or a gun battle but he also knows he will have to take the leadership role and come up with the ideas on finding the murderer. When they corner the gang of horse thieves, it doesn’t go well. When Lefty returns to the ranch for help, he finds himself accused of the murder. Now he must not only find the murderer but prove his own innocence.

In director Jared Moshe’s involving drama, Lefty is the very picture of the classic Western hero’s sidekick, the loyal guy always on hand to help but never outshining the hero in their adventures. Eddie’s murder turns the hero and sidekick stereotype upside down, and steadfast, unassuming Lefty finds himself in the hero role as he tracks down his friend’s murderer. It is a clever twist on the standard Western and Bill Pullman pulls it off with considerable appeal. You can’t help but pull for this unusual underdog getting his chance to show he is more than an amusing companion.

Fans of fine cinematography should relish this film. The photography and locations look stunning, shot on film rather than digital, which adds to the old Western feel of the film. The Montana vistas are perfect, just the kind of sweeping Western landscape you hope for. The starkly beautiful landscape and well-composed shots give the film the feel of a classic John Ford Western, where the landscape is almost a character. In the respect, and the camera’s intimate focus on Pullman’s subtly expressive face, the film is near perfect.

The cast can not be matched for this Western in a classic style, but most of the focus is on Pullman. Pullman does a splendid job, and his fine performance as an overlooked man with inner strengths is much of the appeal of the film.

If there is a shortcoming, it is that the some of other cast’s characters seem a bit underwritten. Even Tommy Flanagan, who gets considerable screen time, seems more to be playing a type than a person. One especially wishes the wonderful Kathy Baker could have had a little more to work with. Although the hints are there for an deeper character, there is not the time.

Similar things could be said about the script. Apart from the twist of making the sidekick into the hero, there is a lot of standard Western in the story. It is satisfying but not very original.

THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN is a tale of a sidekick turned hero, a nice spotlight for Pullman, who has often appeared in those kinds of roles throughout his career, which some stunning Montana scenery framing an otherwise classic Western in the spirit of John Ford.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars