Guess what, Hallmark people. 2009 British Columbia does NOT look like 1863 "Brazor, Texas," United States of America. When will you movie makers get it through your heads that Canada looks like CANADA--a desolate, mostly underpopulated wasteland good for a few national parks and North America's major French-speaking enclave, but with little else to brag about? Even if the Canadian government desperately throws around film credits so movie producers actually are PAID two Canadian dollars for every world dollar they spend on their projects in that country does NOT mean that it is responsible to constantly bamboozle Americans with all these fakey low-rent counterfeit phony baloney ludicrous attempts to pass off Canadia as an authentic and\or historic American setting. If you want to be paid to make a film in Canada, fine--but either tell the movie goer IT'S HAPPENING IN CANADA, or do not place it ANYWHERE, or--if you are EMBARRASSED to tell a Canadian story, but you feel your story must happen somewhere--make a name up, such as Oompah Loompah Land.The plot of this so-called western is silly, the acting is third-rate, the dialog is worse, and the climax is downright laughable. The U.S. Congress must extend truth-in-packaging laws to the film industry, since this would save film fans so much time and money. Since most projects from Canada are next to worthless, particularly those that try to stand in for ANY part of America, forcing Netflix, DVD distributors, and TV channels to apply a "black box" warning to such merchandise (just as currently required for the pharmaceutical industry when it packages questionable drugs) would help diminish what must be a dangerously rising level of antipathy toward all things Canadian on the part of their abused southern neighbors.

You just know that when the 2 guys meet, despite the animosity between them, they shall ultimately become friends especially when there is a threat by Emperor Maximillian's army and other renegades towards them.A well dressed drifter roams into town and gets land thanks to a win in a card game. He is the gambler.The guy loves a widow, but her husband has been dead for three years now and our guy hesitates in proposing, instead offering all kinds of excuses not to wed her. After all, Jim, her deceased husband, was his friend. Apparently, the girl has been waiting 3 years for our guy to ask so we can imagine the marriage she had with Jim.In Mel Brooks' film of 1974, "Blazing Saddles," a line was stated that never in the history of motion pictures has the cavalry ever been too late. While this is true here, the ending is quite silly and if anything, detracts from the movie itself.

The star of the movie really is Dean Cain. Maybe it's because his character is the outsider(in more ways than one) and therefore we pay more attention. Maybe it's just because he looks like he's having a ball playing Shea McCall, a child who learned to shoot growing up in the carnival circuit and whose father used to shoot plates off his head. I think it's an equal mix character and actor: it's hard to not pay total attention to Dean/Shea when he comes on screen. Actually, all the actors involved looked like they were having fun with this movie. I liked that even the minor characters weren't treated as simple window dressing. They all had a voice, a POV, and we cared about them because they care about their boss, played by James Tupper, who takes an immediate dislike to Cain's character. It's a fun movie, nothing ground breaking or too original, and the ending is predictable. But it's the getting there that makes for two hours of escapist fun. I really liked the chemistry between Tupper and Cain, and wouldn't mind a sequel(or two) at all.

Dean Cain surprised me. The star of Lois & Clark is almost unrecognizable here, but that's fine as he fit right in with the proceedings. The comedy is subtle, but there's a lot of it! Alison Hossack is a new actress to me, and she nailed her role of the neighboring ranch owner who has a crush on the Gunslinger, played by James Tupper.The invading protagonists could have been handled a bit better, but I can somewhat overlook that because the story was not really about them. The budget was apparent in some of the explosions.The scenery was great, the sets and props excellent, and a pesky rain was noticed in about half of the picture. The star of this movie was the witty script and dialog between the stars!I was well entertained! 9 out of 10.