The Duel (2016) Reviews

• An ambitious but flawed film that is average at best.

  mjmegelsh2016-07-03

  Regrettably, the great genre of film that is the Western struggles mightily in our present time. Most Westerns are now low-budget, like The Duel, but that does not mean that it should be written off (I was pleasantly surprised that the recent release Forsaken was a decent Western). There are some positives in this film, yet negatives are rampant and I will note the primary ones. This film features a decent cast and an interesting story which involves an investigation surrounding missing people and an occult leader that has come to control the hearts and minds of the people of a small Texas town. However, besides a respectable performance by Liam Hemsworth, the cast is mediocre and forgettable with Woody Harrleson topping the list as being a cliché villain with forgettable, pretentious faux-intellectual dialogue. The action is average at best, and above all else there is a feeling that the writers or producers wanted to inject their opinion regarding the current treatment of Mexicans (something a reviewer on Roger Ebert's website noted) into a script already bogged down with murder, missing persons, revenge, a husband-wife relationship, a mysterious town, and a religious occult leader. It is subtle. However, it seemed out of place and unnecessary but that does not stop Hollywood from forcing a narrative or agenda into a movie, does it? Overall, this is a movie that had promise, but sub-par acting and a feeling that it did not know which plot point should receive the most attention weakened the film as a whole. If you like Westerns, you may find it more alluring because of the genre. Nevertheless, it is a one time watch that struggles and does not contribute anything of great worth.

• Good acting, decent camera-work, abysmal script.

  andrej-holm2016-06-24

  Acting's as fine as you can except it from someone with talent just phoning it in for another paycheck. The script is a piece of sh*t. The plot's thin, shaky character motivations established by shitty exposition, nothing is really resolved (or for that matter, even interesting). Turns out the villain's kinda vilanious. Turns out the hero's just the sort of meathead you'd root for. At the end, a lot more people are dead, but really, none of them seemed to have any redeeming qualities at all. Also, the terrible deus ex machina at the end really ruins it all.

• Pretty boss Western!

  subxerogravity2016-06-30

  I think most people would have expected more form a movie starring Woody Harrison and Liam Hemsworth,both who were in The Hunger Games together, but it was a pretty plain, low budget kind of thing that happen to have a really good story to it. Hemsworth plays a Texas Ranger who is sent after a man killing Mexicans in a small town he runs, and just by coincidence, this same man killed his father 20 years ago in a strange ritual of code of honor from the town they are from. Making matters worse is the fact that this Texas Ranger brings with him his Mexican Wife just because she complained about having nothing to do around the house while he's gone, and she ends up being put under the religious spell this man has got on some of the townsfolk. Hemsworth plays a decent cowboy. Not as dashing as his older brother, Chris as he goes for more of the Clint Eastwood type. Woody Harrison is a good villain in the film. It's similar to his work in the film, Out of the Furnace. But I really like the grim story that the Western told about the treatment of the Mexicans after the borderline for Texas was created. Overall it was a brilliant western that had no frills just a great story with some good actors telling the tale

• A Total Waste of Time

  johnwiltshireauthor2016-07-17

  I sat through to the end. It deserves two stars for that. But what a muddle of a movie. Some of the ideas were good--mysterious town, Texas ranger sent undercover to investigate. Weird religious guy and slightly spooky people all clearly under his spell. That was all reasonably done. But... where do I start with the rest? You know a movie is going to go seriously downhill when it's clearly promoting an agenda from the get-go. Wives in the late nineteenth century didn't go about with their hair cascading down their backs. Sure, the actress might have liked the look, but it's jarring. Then when asked if she's religious, she replies, "I'm spiritual?" Huh? So anachronistic that I almost stopped watching there and then, but I stuck with it. Then she forces her Texas ranger husband to take her on his undercover mission. Huh? (Again) Maybe next movie they make we'll have a Navy Seal taking his wife with him on a mission. Why not? A woman must be just as capable as a guy who's fought his whole life on the border, been in the Indian wars, as well as the war with Mexico and is now a trained Texas ranger. But it's all cool. Let's not forget the agenda...Of course he'd take her. So, they get to the spooky town and for no reason whatsoever she turns against the husband and takes up with the old, weird, bald religious guy. I'd have gone off him the moment he handed me a snake (yes, snake handlers in Texas), but hey, what do I know? At the end she appears to be sucked into a sort of house for the black-clad widows. Hey, I'd given up trying to understand this mess of a movie by then. There were one or two bits that kept me watching -- some great vigilante moments; people getting shot in the face, that kind of thing. And thank God for tiny, half-dressed girls. One saved the hero's life at the end. Sheesh. They don't make Westerns like they used to, do they? Oh, wait, they do. The Salvation: a Western as they should be made. Go watch, then weep for this utter garbage.

• Harrelson and Hemsworth Are Both Excellent in Psycho-Western

  lavatch2016-08-23

  On the surface, "The Duel" is a classical western in the style of "High Noon." But the main interest in not the traditional melodrama of hero and villain. Rather, it is a subtle psychological drama that explores deeper personal values in the two leading characters. Woody Harrelson is good as a character known as "The Preacher." He is a megalomaniac who has exerted his charisma and total control over a small town in Texas in the post-Civil War years. The traditional "stranger" who rides into town is a Texas Ranger, and the role is given a fine, understated performance by Liam Hemsworth. The twist on this familiar plot is that the Texas Ranger is on a secret mission to spy on The Preacher, who has been wantonly killing Mexicans who have crossed over the border. But Hemsworth's character David has a second interest in The Preacher, who killed his father two decades earlier. The film is effective in offering some depth to David's motives. Is he a dedicated Texas Ranger performing his job, or is his true motivation to revenge his father's death? The film never completely answers that question, but leaves it to the viewer to decide. But there are other loose ends in the film that are both unresolved and confusing. The depiction of David's marriage to his wife Marisol is never fully developed in the film. Marisol was wedded to David without her consent when her father's life was saved by David. At the beginning, it appears as though they have a happy marriage. But the transformation of Marisol, who is won over to the side of The Preacher, seemed strained and unconvincing. And the film never even bothered to wrap up the narrative by informing the audience of what happened to Marisol! Obviously, "The Duel" is not a perfect film. The historical backdrop of the development of Texas in the mid-nineteenth century was also superficial. It was almost as if the film could have been set in any historical period with a different set of costumes. Still, it is worth seeing for the excellent work in cinematography and the two fine performances of Harrelson and Hemsworth.