The Duel

Mexicans have been showing up dead in Texan rivers between Mexico and the United States, near the eerie religious settlement of Helena. Texas Ranger, David Kingston (Liam Hemsworth), is sent to investigate a preacher, Abraham (Woody Harrelson), who runs things around those parts. The investigation is not conclusive and isn't really needed as when David and his wife enter the village they are met with general hostility disguised as a warm welcome before being offered the position of sheriff. The aforementioned preacher killed our hero's father twenty-years prior, and he's now trying to convert his wife. So there it is; a simple premise.

The Duel is a simmering Western treat. Hemsworth plays the stoic, no-nonsense, do-gooder, and he is decent, keeping his feelings bottled up like all good, heroic gunslingers do. With his pretty boy green eyes, his gruff exterior is not fooling anyone, but I enjoyed his performance more here than in anything I've seen him in before. Harrelson revels in playing the God-worshipping madman with a soft spot for Mexicans and hunting (often at the same time). But most surprisingly, Emory Cohen's performance (playing Isaac; Abraham's pathetic attempt of a son) as a creepy, cowardly, and sly little man, stands out. I enjoyed The Duel very much, but I'd not seen a Western like this before. The score and general unease, along with a restrained and often wordy script, create a slowly burning and tense good-vs-evil story, culminating in an expected but no less exciting showdown, and there are a few surprises along the way too.

B+

Its not bad but its not good either. The acting from Hemsworth and Harrelson is great but the screenplay lacks focus specially in the middle half and the tonal shifts between sheriff's story and husband-wife story did not do it any favors. It still is fun to explore specially if you take the two half separately. I didn't like the very ending as Kingston was just waiting for Abraham for the final kill in the end. The bar scene setup was abrupt but it was done nicely but then again it ends very abruptly dissolving any tension that scene generates. The cruelty with the Mexicans was shown nicely as well.

B-