Directed by Tim Sutton
Written by Greg Johnson
Starring Sam Worthington, Colson Baker, and Heather Graham
MPAA Rating R
Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
Available on demand and in theaters December 10

by Whitley Albury, Staff Writer

Much to the surprise of, well, everyone who knows me pretty well, I really dig westerns. Sure, they can be a little formulaic and more often than not problematic, at least the older ones, but the core to a good western is always just good storytelling.

I’m not saying The Last Son suffers from bad storytelling, per se. But more like unrealized potential. The story is akin to a Grecian myth: Isaac Lemay (Sam Worthington) was told by a Native American (which is pretty cringey in the 21st century, and it’s never really clear which nation he’s from) that he’ll die at the hands of one of his children. Not within a specific timeline or anything, just that it’ll happen. And he makes it very clear that this isn’t a curse (a nice change), but a prophecy. So, like any God-fearing man, he sets out to kill them before they can kill him. Since it’s the late 1800s, and out west, it’s safe to assume Isaac bounced around a bit. And he had at least six children with sex workers. One of whom is Anna (Heather Graham), who we meet at the beginning before Isaac cuts her thumb off. Yeah, that was a bit out of nowhere for me, too.

Cal (Colson Baker) is Anna’s son, a bank robber. He comes home to the brothel/bar/tavern to discover what’s happened, and he’s out for revenge. And that’s the main plot line! It wasn’t some destiny; it all started for Cal because this dick attacked his mother. And from there, it’s just a chase of sorts. The plot line just kind of gets buried from there. There is a twist that I won’t spoil, but it’s mentioned about thirty minutes in and you’ll know exactly how the story is gonna go from there.

I was initially pretty stoked to see Baker acting again, since I really enjoyed his performance in Roadies, the short-lived HBO series. And honestly, I do feel like he’s a far better actor than he is a musician, but that’s a very different long rant. But he’s not really given much room to expand on Cal. No one is, really. It’s like watching archetypes play out, without really having a reason to pull for any one character.

The score and cinematography were incredible, however. The entire film was shot on location in Clyde Park, Montana, and it’s breathtaking. Lots of snow (which highlights the blood splatter from guns and knives so well!), lots of woods and hills. It definitely fits in with the era.

If you’re just really craving a Western that you haven’t seen a dozen times, then I’d say this is a solid choice. If you nod off because it’s soup season and you’ve got a full belly, it’s okay, you won’t really miss much and can easily catch back up. I do appreciate that it’s only a bit longer than an hour and a half, because if it were any longer, it would definitely drag on for far longer than necessary.