Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Wuchak "The Desperate Trail" is an R-rated straight-to-video Western from 1995 starring Sam Elliott as Marshal Bill Speakes; he wants to bring to the gallows his daughter-in-law, Sarah (Linda Fiorentino), who murdered his son but is blinded to her defense of spousal abuse. In her run from the law Sarah hooks up with a charming conman, Jack Cooper (Craig Sheffer).***Mild SPOILERS follow*** (although I don't give away the ending)POSITIVES: I liked the ominous "church bells" soundtrack. It's simple and unique but I didn't find it jarringly incongruous to the Western genre as some apparently did.The first act was the best, but the rest of the film was still pretty good. It's a solid Western with a lot of drive and Peckinpah-like gunfights.What I liked most was the thought-provoking elements of the story. One theme is the evil of spousal abuse. Not just in reference to what drove Sarah to this "desperate trail," but the guy she pistol-whips for giving his wife a black eye (the wife ultimately leaves him and even Marshal Speakes admits the man deserved it).Another theme is the corrupting power of the "Eli Syndrome." Eli was a legitimate chief priest in the Old Testament who spoiled his sons and allowed them to run amok, carnally speaking, in their temple service, which ultimately brought God's judgment and their deaths (1 Samuel 2 & 4). Just so, Bill Speakes was obviously a solid citizen, successful cattle rancher and marshal who spoiled his son. His kin-bias wouldn't allow him to see the other side of the story; it blinded him. Although he WAS a good man and in some ways even a great man this bias was his weakness and successfully corrupted him.Another theme is desperation. The film's called "The DESPERATE Trail" for a reason. Sarah was on her way to the gallows and would need the stagecoach money to make a successful escape to freedom. Women had few options outside of marriage or prostitution out West back then; how much more so if you're a wanted fugitive? She was desperate, pure and simple. The guy she pistol-whips deserved it. Sarah didn't try to steal money from the members of the stage so she wasn't a "stage robber" in the conventional sense nor did she rob stages throughout the rest of the film, i.e. for a living; it was a one-time thing. Although she does rob a store for needed supplies, but --again -- she was desperate.As far as her being the heroine and Jack Cooper the hero, in the sense of Bonnie & Clyde, one of the points of the film is that there is no hero. Everyone's corrupt in one way or another, defiled by "the sins of the father," the father being Marshal Speakes. The exception is Jack, who's simply corrupted by his conman nature and desire to provide for his crippled brother, which is another example of kin-bias. Yet he clearly displays traits of love & loyalty, which Sarah is able to easily pick up on after her experiences with an abusive husband. So, although there are strong amoral aspects to the story, one gets the vibe that a certain person or people may move on to a positive and respectable future, once justice is served and they perhaps find the grace of another shot at life, which is a big IF.NEGATIVES: Sam Elliott, the quintessential Westerner, is his usual laconic self, but he's not the main character, plus his role is atypical since he's not the customary easy-going, likable hero; here he's quiet and respectable until one sees his blind hatred and unwillingness to see anything less than nobility in his son, who he obviously spoiled. This isn't a negative to me; I'm only citing it for those who prefer to see Elliot as the noble star in Westerns.As the film progresses it becomes clearer that this is a straight-to-video Western. For instance, the film was shot in New Mexico with very fitting locations for a Western, but they seem minimalistic and bleak. Of course, this may have been the point since they're on "the desperate trail." Another example would be a couple cases of questionable dialogue/acting and the simple soundtrack. Again, I don't personally find this objectionable since I appreciate low-budget movies.The runtime is 92 minutes.FINAL WORD: "The Desperate Trail" is a solid Western with a lot of drive and action, plus it has thought-provoking themes that are fairly covert and left to the viewer to mine. Although the main characters appear amoral or immoral on the surface the story reveals why they're corrupt and desperate, besides themes of love & justice come into play. However, those who only prefer Elliott in the typical role of the easygoing Western hero should stay away.GRADE: B

Rich Wright Linda Fiorentina develops from sexy seductress in The Last Seduction into a merciless killer in this effort, and it's a world away from Jessie the happy cowgirl from the Toy Story films. She'll blast your brains out without so much of a second glance, and she wears them Western clothes like she was born in the outfit. Partnering with a smart mouthed confidence trickster, she's on the run from the always excellent Sam Elliott, who plays a grizzled old sheriff. She committed the unpardonable sin of killing his son (Who she was married to, and he knocked seven bells out of her, hence the reason for her slaying him) so needless to say, this lawman is slightly more persistent in pursuing his target than most...There are no signs of this being a straight to video effort, as the productions values are decent throughout. There are also some well staged and fast moving shootouts, but in terms of gore this ain't no The Wild Bunch, so the 18 certificate is a bit of a mystery. Like the film I last watched, The Kentuckian, this is hardly going to go down in history as one of the genre classics. But it'll pass 85 minutes, and you won't feel you've wasted your time. Which is good enough for me. 6/10

Spikeopath The Desperate Trail is directed and co-written by P. J. Pesce with Tom Abrams. It stars Sam Elliott, Craig Sheffer, Linda Fiorentino and Frank Whalley. Music is scored by Stephen Endelman and cinematography by Michael Bonvillain. Plot sees Fiorentino and Scheffer team up as wanted fugitives out on the lam, pursued by lawman Sam Elliott, who will so anything outside the law to get his way.The violence is loaded and film aspires to be a Leone and Peckinpah hybrid, so much so it would be easy for the casual Western viewer to believe they were witness to something special in the genre. Slow motion action and explosive blood squibs are the order of the day, throw in some genre staples and you are good to go. After a great opening, a false dawn if ever there was one, Pesce's (From Dusk Till Dawn 3/Sniper 3) picture suffers from bad direction, bad editing, awful musical scoring and the biggest problem of all, gross miscasting. Fiorentino, a fine actress and a fine looking woman, is no rooting tooting vengeance seeking blood spilling cowgirl, while Scheffer? Seriously? Who thought that was a good idea? And Endelman scores it like it's the bastard son of science fiction and Australia outback.Elliott is good value, he almost always is, but even he at times looks to be wondering just what he is doing in such poor fare. Bonvillain's photography holds up well, with some nice broad lensing of the Santa Fe and Tesuque Pueblo locations; with one gorgeous red sky shot particularly impressive, and the final shoot out is competently staged. But this is a bad Western film, even by TV movie standards. Cribbing from better movies and better film makers does not a good film make, case in point, The Desperate Trail. 3/10

headhunter46 Sam Elliot plays a hardened Sheriff bent on capturing his daughter in law because she killed his son who had the audacity to beat her. The sheriffs methods at times seem heavy handed, but he is a dedicated lawman who will not shoot her at the first chance. No, he intends to see her hang. One of the most vicious lines in the movie is his while telling her what it's like. He tells her, "You can hear a neck snap, sounds like breaking a carrot." Excellent portrayals all around, even has a few surprises. I do feel that toward the end the woman on the run become a loose cannon, blazing away at any who offend. This might be taken as her rage against men who belittle and abuse women as had her husband, the son of the sheriff who hunts her down at all costs.