American Outlaws (2001)

Was this a joke? I am serious, was this a joke? Where are the Mystery Science Theater Boys when you need them? This is a Western about Jesse James. Of course, you might not have realized, Jesse wears Gucci clothing, has his teeth capped, a designer haircut and always hangs out in rooms that must be lit by 1,500 kerosene lamps. Of course, his gang consists of a number of male models that are just "ahhh shucks" funny. They really are some good ol' boys, that look real good. The dialog is quite refreshing as well. I never knew that they used the words "suck" and "cool" so often in the late 1800's. You see, this movie is educational. Silly me, I used to think James was a ruthless outlaw and racist. 0 out of ****

Fmovies: Why did Colin Farrell make this movie? At his level of talent, he can't need the work so badly.

Pitiful story that tries to romanticize a gang of violent criminals, putting 21st century people and attitudes in period costumes. It does not work.

The "action" is so unbelievable from the first two minutes, it sets the tone for the entire film. A group of Confederates are ambushed by a vastly superior Union force, and the Jameses and Youngers manage to singlehandedly save the day, using John Cage style action tricks. Except that 200 incompetent guys with rifles would have turned them into hamburger.

Skip it unless someone pays you to watch.

...you think Jesse James was a loser and should be portrayed that way on the big screen to set the record straight. ...you like knowing what's going to happen in the next scene because the screenplay was targeted for someone with the I.Q. of a mop. ...you like to be reassured that just in case the action of the movie isn't easy enough to follow along with, you can count on characters spelling out what is going to happen in the next BIG EXCITING SCENE. ...the only other movie playing is Pearl Harbor.

American Outlaws fmovies. A very short review on this very weak version of the Jesse James legend. See the original 1938 Jesse James for a much more accurate portrayal. There is nothing to reccommend in this travesty. The comic moments are downright stupid & inane, more fitting a Bowery Boys film. Wes Farrell (who resembles Tyrone Power---the 1938 Jesse.) tries but does not succeed, Only Timothy Dalton as the Pinkerton detective does well. This is one of the weakest films about Jesse James an American Folk hero/villian.

rating ** 52 points out of 100 IMDb 3

Released in 2001, "American Outlaws" is yet another rendition of Jesse James, Cole Younger and their Gang. This one focuses on the end of the Civil War and the first few years of the gang's activities,which lasted a whole decade in reality, from 1866-76, ending with the foiled Northfield, Minnesota, bank robbery on September 7, 1876. Jesse & Frank escaped while the others were captured or died. While Frank tried to settle down to a normal life in Virginia Jesse restarted the gang in 1879, but was shot by Robert Ford, one of his trusted gang members on April 3, 1882.

"American Outlaws" is highlighted by a great cast with palpable chemistry, including Colin Farrell as Jesse, Scott Caan (aka 'Danno') as Cole, the beautiful Ali Larter as Zee, Jesse's girlfriend/wife, and Timothy Dalton as the lead Pinkerton. Gabriel Macht, Will McCormack, Nathaniel Arcand and Gregory Smith are also on hand as notable members of the gang. The film plays it fairly serious accented by a fun, joie de vivre spirit, sorta like Indiana Jones in the wild West. You can tell the cast had a blast during filming. This is the exact opposite of the grim "The Long Riders" from 1980, which is arguably the best and most accurate film about the James-Younger Gang.

As far as historical accuracy goes with "American Outlaws," well, there was a group of outlaws in Missouri called the James-Younger Gang and they did rob banks, trains, and stagecoaches in Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, West Virginia and Minnesota (whereas Jesse's later group continued the gangs' criminal legacy in Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana and Mississippi), other than this the historicity is pretty butchered for the sake of rousing Western entertainment. See "The Long Riders" for a more austere and accurate version of the tale.

BOTTOM LINE: Even though "American Outlaws" loses points for inaccuracies and implausibilities, it scores high in overall entertainment value. It's a turn-off-your-brain-and-have-a-blast kind of Western. The movie performed poorly at the box office in 2001 and Roger Ebert gave it a scathing review. Ebert compared it to 1972's "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid," which he praised. This was strange because that film wasn't exactly realistic either; in fact, it's a veritable parody or black comedy. These movies shouldn't be compared in the first place since "American Outlaws" details the gang's first year in action and "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" the gang's final bank robbery, a whole decade later. Furthermore, the two films are expressly opposite in tone: "American Outlaws" makes the wild West larger-than-life and ALMOST fun while the other film de-glamorizes it, making it profane, ugly and idiotic. In any event, "American Outlaws" is seriously rollicking Western lore worthy of one's video library.

The film was shot in Central-East Texas (great locations, by the way) and runs a short-but-sweet 94 minutes.

GRADE: B

Horrible insult to the tradition of westerns, 'American Outlaws' is worthwhile only as another stepping stone in the career of Colin Farrell. He's horrible as much as anyone in the cast, but he'll be in much better movies as a rule, soon...For now, he can be forgiven this.

James brothers are portrayed as nitwits who grimace when their 'WANTED' poster does not look like them..then later, when the poster has been improved (but the movie has not), they smile.

One of their group is old enough to order a milk shake so naturally he's the first to go. He must have won the pool.

Kathy Bates and Timothy Dalton - one question..did you owe back taxes?

Gabriel Macht is the only actor who has an clue what's going on, and he's also the only one who looks like he's from that period. All the rest have designer haircuts and Scott Caan even got a tint job. None of the dialogue is suited to the era, either; they all might as well be meeting at a rave.

See 'The Long Riders', 'Tombstone', anything else.. 1/10. John Ford is weeping somewhere.