USA, France, Spain | 98 MINUTES | English, Spanish |
BLACKTHORN
Drama
The final years in the life of legendary bandit Butch Cassidy are shrouded in mystery, from his rumored death in a Bolivian military standoff, to his escape from South America to die quietly on a Nevada ranch the 1930s. In Mateo Gil's intimate and adventurous Western, a reimagined and aged Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard) is living under the assumed name James Blackthorn in a secluded village in Bolivia 20 years after his disappearance in 1908. Surviving humbly off the land and finding occasional comforts with a local woman, Yana (Magaly Solier, The Milk of Sorrow), he longs to end his personal exile and return to the US to see his family. Reluctantly joining forces with a Spanish mine robber (Eduardo Noriega) who promises him a cut of the loot, Blackthorn sets out on one final adventure… and discovers he's not the only one harboring a deep secret.
Mateo Gil makes a solid English-language debut with this sublimely shot and well acted tale set in the remarkable landscapes of Bolivia. Sam Shepard gives a riveting performance as the weathered, mysterious, and unsentimental Blackthorn, gracefully revitalizing the legend of history's favorite outlaw.