This was my first look at the two principals, and I thought Paul Gross and Sienna Guillory acquitted themselves well given what they had to work with. This was billed as a comedy, but finds itself in between all out funny and serious revenge Western, and the effect leaves one a little off balance. What's interesting is the set up, in which gunslinger Montana Kid (Gross) arrives in Barclay's Brush somewhere in Canada quite under duress. We come to learn that he's on the run from American bounty hunters, but in the mean time, decides to avail himself of the good will that the few citizens in town have to offer. That is, except for blacksmith Jack (Tyler Mane), who gets on Montana's wrong side by 'stealing' his horse. That whole scenario was the basis for Montana forcing a showdown with the giant horseshoer, but with no one in town owning a gun, expectations for an eventual gun battle get watered down by film's end. The character I got the biggest kick out of had only a mere presence in the story, and that would have been Graham Greene as the Indian sidekick N'Kwala to Canadian Mountie J.T. Kent (Dustin Milligan). Greene had such a natural presence in the story, he made even the slightest mannerism noteworthy without uttering a sound. There were others in the picture that seemed destined to play a more significant role but just went nowhere, like school teacher Miss Alice (Laura Bertram) and the coy Miss Adell (Melody B. Choi). Even the leader of the bounty hunters, Ben Cutter (Callum Keith Rennie), seemed to have been wasted as a major villain. He was disadvantaged quite easily at the finale in a showdown that had no tension at all.So where I was hoping for a likely contender to "Blazing Saddles", this one missed the mark, even though the film turned in a relatively sanitized story line with no foul language or sexually explicit scenes. But then again, we didn't really need a lot of passing gas jokes around the old campfire to make it likeable, and I'd recommend the picture as fine, family friendly movie fare.

I had read about "Gunless" and had high expectations. When my wife and I watched the DVD, and laughed ourselves silly, my expectations were exceeded. So what is "Gunless"? First, it is a Western. It is a Western made by folks who love Westerns. The gorgeous BC border country is photographed lovingly (unlike the travesty of e.g. "Heaven's Gate"'s butchery of Montana). The plot is that of a classic Western - turned sideways. Second, the acting. Every actor does well and bounces off other actors with great skill. Characters are broadly played without going over the line. Third, the script is very fine: funny, tense at times, involving and with few anachronisms. A well written, well acted Western and totally hilarious. Paul Gross manages unselfconscious comedy as well as anyone. All the other characters are excellent. It seems from the DVD extras that the cast enjoyed themselves making this film; we enjoyed it even more. It is a sweet story with the cultural differences on the opposite sides of the 49th parallel well spoofed.

This is a lighthearted Canadian western (if there is such a thing). I don't think this film has a lot of international appeal but for those of us who live in Canada, I believe that this film is one to try out! The comedy in this film is cute, and the action is not bad considering how many cast members are in this film. But this is what gives this film its charm.But what really pulls this film off is the scenery, I believe they filmed this out in Osoyoos BC (in the interior) and you really can't complain about the beautiful night sky full of stars, and the rugged dusty terrain of one of the most charming parts of BC. Overall, this ain't no Unforgiven but it is a unique, Canadian made, film that is fun to watch.

recently, I grabbed few low-budget westerns to watch on my DVD during the weekend. (I have reviewed one of them, 6 Guns, that was pretty bad, and I didn't even bother to review the second one, so awful it was) So you can guess that i didn't have high expectation for this one. Especially if you add the fact that movie is Canadian, and I didn't really know Canadians do westerns too.Now boy, was I wrong to look at the film with a wrong eye.From the first shots till the end, the movie proved to be fun. There was this specific Canadian humor I guess, which I understood perfectly (Being non Canadian and even non American at all), because it was delivered very well by very talented actors.Speaking about actors. I can say for sure that for a long time I never saw such a good acting in low budget movies.God... Russel Crowey gets millions of salary for ruining the epic legends (yeah, I mean Robin Hood parody he did), while these guys delivering much more fun gain ten times less.Action scenes were shot well, camera work was good and lightning and the editing caused no questions.Of course you feel all the way through the film that this is low budget, but it adds to the charm.9 out 10...