IN A NUTSHELL:
This dramatic movie is based on true events from the oral history of the Chemehuevi Indian tribe of California. It was written by Thomas Pa'a Sibbett, and directed by Christan Camargo.
The story takes place in the early 1900s Wild West. Willie Boy falls in love with Carlota from the Chemehuevi tribe despite being forbidden to be together. A fatal incident forces the young couple to flee the only place they know as home.
This is a remake of the 1969 movie Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here based on the novel by Harry Lawton. The story was first filmed in 1911 as a short called The Curse of the Redman.
THINGS I LIKED:
The cast does a great job and includes Martin Sensmeier, Mainei Kinimaka, Zahn McClarnon, Tantoo Cardinal, and Jason Momoa.
Beautiful musical score.
We get to visit Joshua Tree in California.
It's cool to see various desert survival skills that the Indians use.
Lovely cinematography.
In the end, we get to see photos of the real people involved in the events.
We see the consequences of revenge played out in various ways.
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
Fans of Jason Momoa have to wait 30 minutes before he appears in the movie. After that, we rarely see him in the movie. Using his name and image to advertise the movie is a bit deceiving and will frustrate Aquaman fans.
The movie is very slow-moving.
We don't get to know many of the characters involved. Some of them seem easily interchangeable.
Some of the crew were illegally fired twice during the filming of the movie. Rumor has it that the working conditions were terrible and even dangerous.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Some profanity
Lots of gun violence
Hand-to-hand combat
Various weapons
We see some dead and bloodied bodies.
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