Seraphim Falls [DVD] [2007]

It centres around the search for a man named Gideon, played by Pierce Brosnan, and the reasons for said search aren’t clear at the start of the film. But what is certain is that a small party is on his trail, led by Liam Neeson’s Morsman Carver, and that Carver is very determined to get his man. From this set up, Seraphim Falls slowly unfolds as an intelligent, ambiguous mish-mash of Western and thriller, and an intriguing one at that.

Seraphim Falls, it should be said, isn’t a ride without a few problems. The pacing isn’t consistent, for instance, and the back end of the film doesn’t make the most of the build up before it. But there’s still plenty in its corner. Its two star actors are in excellent form, with both Brosnan and Neeson revelling in the complexity of their respective characters, while some sequences are genuinely exciting too.

If Serphami Falls, though, fails to quite deliver what it hints it’s capable of, then it still leaves enough in place to enjoy. Refusing to dumb down its approach, it’s a grown-up, interesting movie, and one that’s easily possible to warm to in spite of the aforementioned problems. Roll on more Westerns, say we… --Jon Foster

Synopsis
It's three years after the Civil War, and Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson) is leading a small hired posse, including Pope (Robert Baker) and Parsons (Ed Lauter), to track down Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) through the snow-covered woods of the Ruby Mountains in New Mexico. While his posse is in it for the money, Carver appears to have more personal reasons for going after Gideon--and demanding that he be taken alive. But in David Von Ancken's exciting Western, the audience is kept in the dark for most of the movie as to just why Carver is so determined to hunt Gideon down and meet him face-to-face. In fact, the script, written by Von Ancken and Abby Everett Jacques, also keeps viewers guessing about which of them might be the hero and which the villain, blurring the distinction between good and evil. Gorgeously filmed by John Toll, SERAPHIM FALLS is a stunning film to look at, enhanced by Harry Gregson-Williams's beautiful score and the vast expanse of the wide-open locations. Mixing in elements of such classic Westerns as THE SEARCHERS and UNFORGIVEN (among other Clint Eastwood films) with such survival thrillers as FIRST BLOOD and THE NAKED PREY, television director Von Ancken (OZ, NUMB3RS, COLD CASE) makes a compelling feature-film debut. Neeson and Brosnan are both outstanding in their difficult, complex roles, particularly the latter as he takes on numerous physical challenges, and Oscar winner Anjelica Huston pops up in an unusual way, playing a mysterious woman who likes to make very interesting deals.

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