Rawlins Review: The Duel

Starring: Woody Harrelson and Liam Hemsworth

Review:

The Duel is your classic “boy avenges father’s death” western movie but fails at being even half as entertaining as any other movie in that genre. It started off with an intense duel between two knife-wielding men but quickly lost its pacing soon after that. This movie was slow and predictable. The only semi-unpredictable part is the actual duel that takes place towards the end. Since the title of the movie points to an eventual duel, you would think it would be intense and exciting. It wasn’t. It was utterly disappointing. It wasn’t even between Woody Harrelson and Liam. Liam didn’t even properly avenge his father’s death. He turned into a Punisher-esque sheriff towards the end but that was about the only entertaining part of the movie. The acting was pretty decent and the character’s were believable except for Liam’s wife. Her actions made no sense to me. One minute she loves Liam, the next she’s acting like she’s married to him against her will (which she kind of is). There was also a part in the movie where Woody Harrelson hunts Mexicans for sport. I guess this is supposed to piss off Liam enough to spark the Punisher mode. I would’ve thought killing his dad would make him bloodthirsty but I guess different people have different breaking points.

What I Would’ve Changed:

The biggest thing I would’ve changed is the titular duel scene. It should have been between Woody and Liam and it should have been brutal and bloody. Barring that change, I would have let Liam properly avenge his father’s death and the deaths of those random Mexicans.

Verdict:

I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie unless one of your friends rented it for a movie night and you didn’t bring any better options. If you want to watch a better Western that’s fairly new, try The Magnificent Seven.

Follow me: @KallMeKarter/@RawlinsReview