The Unholy Trinity
review by Bobby Blakey
I love a good western, but we just don’t get all that many anymore. There are plenty that come straight to the home video market, but sadly most are just bad. The latest The Unholy Trinity brings together a great cast including Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, Brandon Lessard, Veronica Ferres, Gianni Capaldi, Q'orianka Kilcher, Tim Daly, Ethan Peck, Katrina Bowden and David Arquette from Robert the Bruce director Richard Gray. Could this film bring that something special to the western genre or will it fail to have the quickest draw?
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The Unholy Trinity follows a tale of revenge, dark secrets, and buried treasures set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870s Montana. It picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway, as he gives his estranged son, Henry, an impossible task: Murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove, the town’s upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St Christopher.
A lot of the time with these kinds of films the headliners are actually just there to promote but often sidelined. Thankfully that is not the case here with both Brosnan and Jackson front and center to the entire. They are the highlights of the film with the rest falling into cliches and convoluted plotlines trying to make something bigger than it needed to be. There are some plot twists that work, but not anything that you won’t see coming most likely.
The reason this film works at all for me was just Brosnan and Jackson. The story is really following Henry, but as it moves forward it feels like these guys take over the heavy lifting. Both are great working with what they have, but it is Brosnan that really shines. With his impressive mutton chops and grizzled
persona, he is perfectly cast and feels right at home here. Jackson brings his usual swagger with the same older guy charm to fit in perfectly in this story despite not giving him much to play with.
It’s a decent enough western, especially since we get very few these days and most of them are just bad. Here is a by the numbers flick with two great leads bringing something worthwhile to the gerne even if it doesn’t all work. Some of the gun fights needed some better reaction training as you could see how some people moved while shooting and looked like they were just faking it as opposed to actually shooting a pistol.
Decide for yourself and check out The Unholy Trinity when it hits theaters on June 13th from Roadside Attractions and Saban Films.