News Of The World Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

6. It's A Refreshingly Low-Key Western

Though the writing is often simple to a fault, there is also something hugely appealing about Greengrass' stripped-down approach to the western genre.

The campy, corny stereotypes even great westerns indulge in are largely absent here, and rather than dash from one bloody shootout to the next, the bulk of the movie's 118 minutes are defined by a steady canter towards the dramatic end-point.

With its modest approach to action and a central paternal bond that doesn't feel remotely forced, Greengrass seems more keen to drink in the atmosphere of the Old West rather than deliver scene after scene of Plot and Incident.

The sparse approach doesn't always work, and again it may leave some a tad underwhelmed, but it's also refreshing to watch a western that isn't either playing broad stereotypes for the cheap seats or desperately trying to be a grand philosophical meditation on the nature of violence.