Amazon.com video review:
Director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) tries gamely to
recapture the exotic mysteries of spaghetti Westerns in this stylish
but empty film, which stars Sharon Stone as a stranger who comes to
the town of Redemption in time for an annual shooting contest. Her
real motivations for being there are the stuff that might have found
their way into a film by Sergio Leone--in fact, much of this film is a
pastiche of Leone's greatest hits, including A Fistful of
Dollars and Once
upon a Time in America--but one can't quite believe Stone in
the role. Gene Hackman gives a predictably solid performance as the
town tyrant, and Leonardo DiCaprio is good as a lucky young gunslinger
who gets to kiss the heroine. But not even the cast can help this
failed project. Raimi brings a lot of razzle-dazzle to his camera
work, but it doesn't make the film any more substantial. A widescreen
version of the film can be seen on DVD. --Tom
Keogh
