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‘The Old Way’ Review: Mild Mild West

Nicolas Cage phones it in as a deadly, taciturn gunslinger in this middling western.

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By Calum Marsh

“The Old Way” is a cheap, run-of-the-mill western, which is an appealing quality. We don’t get a lot of westerns these days, and when we do, they tend to be serious and substantial, like “ Wind River ” or “ The Power of the Dog .” In the 1930s and the 1940s, studios like RKO, Monogram and Republic were churning out dozens of low-budget westerns as B pictures annually, and though not all were great films, the cumulative impression was of a vibrant genre teeming with technical skill and creative brilliance. I can’t recommend “The Old Way” — so blandly written and listlessly directed — on the strength of its individual merits. At the same time, I wish we had 50 movies like it coming out every year.

The director, Brett Donowho, previously directed “Acts of Violence” (2018) , one of those dismal Bruce Willis shoot-em-ups that looks like the star strolled onto the set for an afternoon by accident. “The Old Way” has a similarly perfunctory feel, with Nicolas Cage sleepwalking through his role as the ruthless Montana cowboy Colton Briggs, roused from gunslinging retirement by a lackluster quest for revenge. Alongside his adolescent daughter Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), Briggs pursues a nondescript gang of black hats, led by the nefarious, speechifying James McCallister (Noah Le Gros).

It’s a distinctly low-effort affair across the board, from the simplistic plotting (our heroes chase the bad guys, then find them) to Cage’s performance, absent any of the self-aware wit he demonstrated in last year’s “ The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent .” And while it’s true that a certain tepid aspect is common to most B westerns, those of the ’ 30s and ’ 40s were made with a baseline competence that “The Old Way” is woefully lacking.

The Old Way Rated R for some graphic violence, torture and strong language. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters.

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The Old Way

An old gunslinger and his daughter must face the consequences of his past, when the son of a man he murdered years ago arrives to take his revenge. An old gunslinger and his daughter must face the consequences of his past, when the son of a man he murdered years ago arrives to take his revenge. An old gunslinger and his daughter must face the consequences of his past, when the son of a man he murdered years ago arrives to take his revenge.

• Brett Donowho
• Carl W. Lucas
• Nicolas Cage
• Ryan Kiera Armstrong
• Clint Howard
• 124 User reviews
• 61 Critic reviews
• 43 Metascore

• Colton Briggs

• Brooke Briggs

• James McCallister

• Marshal Jarrett

• Store Owner

• Young Jimmy McCallister

• Corporal Lawrence

• Walter McCallister

• Robert McCallister

• Ruth Briggs

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia Wilhem Scream - A few minutes into the beginning of the film, Nicolas Cage's character shoots a man, and the Wilhelm Scream can be lightly heard.
• Goofs When Ruth runs to hide in the barn, she drops a crossbar to lock the doors behind her. The barn doors slid open rather than swung open, making the crossbar useless.

Colton Briggs : [about grave marker] Nothing belongs to the dead, because the dead don't need anything. Only the living need to possess things. The living need food, water, shelter, clothes, family, money, land. But the dead, the dead have already been tended to. Once they're put in the ground, they have all they need. They're not selfish. I like the dead.

• Connections Featured in Projector: The Old Way (2023, Nicolas Cage) (2023)

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• Runtime 1 hour 35 minutes

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The Old Way review – Nicolas Cage climbs back into the schlocky saddle

Cage plays an old gunslinger riding out with his unnervingly calm daughter in this True Grit-style revenge tale

R eports of the artistic rebirth of Nicolas Cage – a Cage-aissance or whatever you want to call the recent blip, during which he made a few better-than-usual films ( Pig , The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent ) – seem to be over. Now it’s time for Cage, one of the industry’s hardest-working, least fussy, but still notably talented thespians to get back to the business of making schlocky pictures to pay off back taxes or buy more dinosaur skeletons.

So here he is playing Colton Briggs, a character name with the kind of cretic stress pattern that somehow suggests a warrior of yore. This being somewhere near the Montana territory in the 19th century, back in the day Briggs was a dead-eyed bounty hunter, his visage softened only by the fabulous minky voluptuousness of his handlebar moustache. Briggs briskly guns down a man trying to kill him right in front of the would-be attacker’s young son. Fast forward 20 years and Briggs has shaved off the ’tache and gone straight, with a pretty, doomed wife (Kerry Knuppe), an unnervingly dead-eyed little girl (Ryan Kiera Armstrong, strikingly good), and a store selling bags of flour and whatnot to locals.

But the past catches up with him in the form of James McCallister (Noah Le Gros), the now-grown son of the man Briggs kills in the pre-title prologue, who with his posse wreaks revenge on Briggs homestead. This compels the old gunslinger to return to, as the title suggests, the old way. Given the lack of social services or even babysitters in the wild west, Briggs decides to take his daughter with him on his revenge mission, laying the groundwork for a lot of True Grit-style grizzled-guy-smart-kid bonding that’s hackily written but reasonably watchable thanks to Cage and Armstrong’s screen chemistry. The two connect over their shared lack of inclination to cry at moments of tragedy, suggesting that a stunted emotional range might be a good thing when it brings families together like this.

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The old way review: donowho’s standard american western has heart & humor.

Brett Donowho’s western tale follows a typical formula, but there are plenty of laughs and smiles to be had throughout this familiar story.

Academy Award winner and charismatic method actor Nicolas Cage has had a longstanding history of taking on dynamic roles. From dramas and horror films to action thrillers and superhero movies, Cage has shown that his talents extend far and wide across genres. Surprisingly, the decorated actor has never taken on a western until his role in The Old Way . Directed by Brett Donowho from a screenplay by Carl W. Lucas, Cage plays a vengeful gunslinger drawn out of retirement to track down his wife’s killers. Donowho’s western tale follows a typical formula, but there are plenty of laughs and smiles to be had throughout this familiar story.

Nic Cage stars as Colton Briggs, the infamous and cold-blooded gunfighter with a track record of being smarter than his enemies and getting the job done by any means necessary. That all comes to a halt when he meets Ruth (Kerry Knuppe), whom he marries and shares a daughter, the young and courageous Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). When Briggs’ past comes back to haunt him in the form of a grand vengeance scheme, he travels across town with Brooke to track down his wife’s killers. Together, they learn more about each other while rebuilding their connection as father and daughter, sharing memories about Ruth that would give them strength to carry on.

Related: Brett Donowho Interview: The Old Way

The Old Way is a familiar revenge tale that overlays a heartwarming father-daughter adventure, making for an engaging American western. While tip-toeing around standard genre tropes, Lucas' screenplay offers an appealing dynamic between Colton and his daughter that grounds his story with humanity. As with many westerns, a revenge mission initiated by the bandit James McAllister (Noah Le Gros) impacts all the main characters in different ways. But the script nicely balances the various perspectives and provides these characters the opportunity to grow outside the standard "kill or be killed" personalities to ones who care about family and wellbeing.

All that said, the greatest thing standing in the way of The Old Way is its inability to offer anything new within its storytelling. The revenge story is predictable despite the characters developing at adequate paces. What's more, not much is known about the town and its inhabitants outside of information provided by the set design. As of result of this limitation, it’s difficult to fully immerse oneself within the story, especially with the predictability of the ending. The end result walks back most of the progress made by its leads, which may leave audiences with an overall underwhelming feeling by the film’s end.

Despite these issues, viewers may find it easy to be engaged with Donowho’s tight and simple feature script because of the interactions between Cage and Armstrong. As the father/daughter duo, they pair well together onscreen, offering moments for laughter and even times for tears. As expected, Cage handles these dynamics well, though this script doesn’t challenge him in ways that would require deeper acting skills. However, it does give newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong the opportunity to make her mark on Hollywood. She gives a great performance, demonstrating her ability to properly move between drama, comedy, and action in a short time span.

In short, there’s not much to expect from Donowho’s predictable and simple American western feature . Yet, The Old Way contains some good fun and offers heartwarming moments between a father and daughter as they rebuild their relationship during a vengeful mission. Thanks to great performances from Nicolas Cage and Ryan Kiera Armstrong, their dynamic is enough to carry this familiar story in a compelling way. And as expected, two hearts become one in their fight for the same desired outcome, but the journey there contains moments that can fill even the coldest of hearts with warmth.

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The Old Way released in theaters January 6. The film is 95 minutes long and rated R for violence.

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The Old Way review: Nicolas Cage elevates dusty Western

“Nicolas Cage's first Western doesn't blaze any new trails, but it does boast fine performances from its lead and co-star Ryan Kiera Armstrong.”

• Nicolas Cage elevates the film
• Some surprisingly emotional moments
• Standout performance from Ryan Kiera Armstrong
• Predictable, formulaic story
• Forgettable villains

A good Western can cover a lot of ground, literally and thematically. Hollywood’s best Westerns tend to use the genre to explore complicated historical, emotional, and personal subject matter, sometimes with nuance, but more often with the sort of explosive, straightforward stories that create a trail of bodies and plenty of moral uncertainty among the story’s principal characters.

Director Brett Donowho’s  The Old Way keeps things simple, but the film’s familiar tale of a grizzled gunslinger whose bloody past catches up with him still manages to deliver a few surprises, along with an entertaining performance from Nicolas Cage .

Based on a script penned by Carl W. Lucas,  The Old Way casts Cage as Colton Briggs, a former gunfighter whose quiet life as a husband and father is torn apart by the adult son of a man he killed years earlier. Determined to avenge the murder of his wife, Colton sets out with his young, emotionally distant daughter to hunt down the man who brought his retirement to a brutal end.

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While Cage is front and center as the film’s cold-blooded gunslinger, he’s joined in the cast by Firestarter  star Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Brooke, Colton’s daughter. Noah Le Gros ( The Beach House ) plays James McCallister, whose father was killed by Colton decades earlier, while Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead), Abraham Benrubi (ER), and Clint Howard ( Apollo 13 ) play the members of McCallister’s’ gang.

On the surface,  The Old Way is a fairly traditional, by-the-numbers Western. Anyone familiar with the tropes of the genre will have a good idea early on where the story is headed and who’s likely to live or die among the cast. Colton and Brooke’s dogged pursuit of McCallister’s and his gang leaves little time to delve into backstories, and the film’s villains are only developed enough to provide the occasional interlude as the story follows the father and daughter’s journey. When the two groups’ narratives finally reach a bloody intersection, the result is so predictable within the conventions of the genre and safe (narratively speaking) that it feels a bit anticlimactic.

What  does set  The Old Way apart from similar stories, however, are the performances from Cage and Armstrong, as well as some of the decisions it makes regarding their characters.

Cage is, as always, fascinating to watch as Colton. He’s great at playing simmering characters teetering on the edge of a moral divide, and Colton is exactly that sort of character, full of seething potential and equipped with a resting killer face. The script has Cage pivot between a more traditional man of few words archetype and a tortured soul whose bitterness pours out in a torrent of dialogue whenever someone inadvertently breaks the seal.

Armstrong plays off Cage’s character well, too, and the pair’s awkward relationship feels entirely in keeping with the genetics their characters share. The story’s exploration of their relationship sets the stage for one of the film’s few surprises, too, as Colton and Brooke gradually find common ground in the separation they feel from society.

Rather than simply paint Colton as a cold-blooded gun for hire and move on, the film explores the ease with which Cage’s character handles death and how it relates to the difficulty he has in connecting with people. What he reveals about the way his mind works and his relationship to the world around him would likely fall under Asperger’s syndrome or another disorder on the autism spectrum today, but in the Wild West era, it’s easy to see how the hand he was dealt in life turned him into the misunderstood man he is.

Cage delivers this fresh spin on the lone gunslinger to peak effect — particularly as Colton begins to realize that his daughter has inherited many of the same qualities that caused him so much suffering over the years. His desperation to set her on a different path offers some of the film’s most powerful moments, and differentiates The Old Way in some small — but effective — ways from the countless films it borrows from.

While the rest of the film holds few surprises, the performances by Cage and Armstrong in The Old Way elevate an otherwise rote Western into something far more entertaining. The film doesn’t take many risks and doesn’t take its character into many unexpected places, but it does tweak a few traditional elements in some intriguing ways that turn The Old Way into a story worth seeing through to its explosive finale.

Directed by Brett Donowho, The Old Way is now in select theaters, and available for on-demand streaming January 13.

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Montana Story is not a film about cowboys, cowgirls, shootouts, or the bloodied history of the American West. Instead, it’s a film about two estranged siblings who are brought back together when their father enters a coma and they are forced to begin saying goodbye to their family ranch. The kids are not ranchers, and neither was their father. As a matter of fact, one of the siblings even clarifies at one point in Montana Story that their father was never a rancher. He just bought the ranch because he liked the idea of it.

For those reasons, one may dispute Montana Story’s status as a contemporary Western. But the new film from writer-director duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel feels uniquely attuned to the draw and sorrow of the American West. The region’s history has been marred by bloodshed and thievery, but the expansive nature of Big Sky Country is still powerful enough to make it seem like the region’s forgotten promise of freedom is one that still exists.

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The Old Way Review

Over 100 films into a career that’s most recently seen him play a grief-stricken truffle hunter ( Pig ) and not one, but two meta versions of himself ( The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent ), it’s genuinely shocking that  The Old Way  is Nicolas Cage ’s first out-and-out Western. ( Butcher's Crossing , another Cage Western which premiered at Toronto last year, is yet to be released.) Unfortunately, that’s about the only surprising element of Brett Donowho’s film, a by-numbers revenger set in the dying days of the Old West that unfavourably recalls Cage’s DTV era.

A pre-title prologue introduces us to Cage’s bounty hunter, Colton Briggs, whose prodigious skills with a six-shooter are shown off as he turns a town square hanging into an impromptu bloodbath. With his Yosemite Sam ‘tache and a Wayne-worthy stare — which ends up fixed on the son of one of the men he’s just dispatched in a moment of foreshadowing that’s about as subtle as anything gets here — Cage convinces as a cold-blooded killer.

A blandly shot, cheap-looking pastiche of a hundred better Westerns.

When we rejoin him twenty years later, Colton's hung up his holster and lost the facial shrubbery, and is now living out a prairie dream with his soon-to-be-fridged wife Ruth (Kerry Knuppe) and their daughter Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). But then James McAllister (an exuberant if scattershot Noah Le Gros) and a brainless band of ruffians arrive to avenge his father, and things swiftly take a turn for the  True Grit  from there.

The most frustrating thing about  The Old Way  isn’t so much that it’s a blandly shot, cheap-looking pastiche of a hundred better Westerns with scant stylistic ambition or narrative depth: at least bland is forgettable. No, what really rankles is that Donowho and screenwriter Carl W. Lucas actually have an ace up their sleeve — two, in fact — that they continually fail to play, or at least play effectively.

Whether driven by screenplay, direction, or performance, Colton and Brooke exhibit clear signs of neurodivergence. Early on, we see Brooke meticulously sorting beans; later, she perfectly mimics a rant she heard days ago about apples without faltering. In a standout fireside scene which sees Armstrong and Cage on top form, Colton and Brooke bond over their shared emotional incapacities. It could have been fascinating to explore how these characters navigate and process a changing world at a time where autism wasn’t even a word. Instead, everything proceeds as predicted, right up to an eye-rolling “Let’s do this the old way!” at the end. Based on the preceding 90 minutes, maybe let’s not, actually.

The Old Way Review: Ryan Kiera Armstrong Steals Formulaic Western

A gunslinger (Nicolas Cage) and his daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) hunt a criminal (Noah Le Gros).

The Old Way channels Unforgiven and True Grit in a bare-bones western with solid character development. Nicolas Cage stars as a reformed gunslinger seeking vengeance. He pays a harsh price for an earlier sin that spawned a formidable enemy. The Old Way doesn't deviate from classic genre archetypes. Bad guys hunting each other is a tried and true formula. The film surprises by giving due course to the father-daughter relationship that drives the story. Twelve-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong holds her own and then some against a grizzled supporting cast. She brings nuance when everything else is one-note.

Colton Briggs (Cage) watches calmly as Robert McAllister (Boyd Kestner) prepares to hang. The hired gun takes little interest as his arrogant boss (Dean Armstrong) makes a mocking speech to the gathered town. Young Jimmy McAllister (Everett Blunck) cries at his father's dire predicament. A valiant attempt at rescue by their relatives proves fatal. Briggs doesn't miss or show mercy. Jimmy's haunted by his cold eyes.

Twenty Years Later

An unrecognizable Briggs stares lovingly at his wife. Ruth (Kerry Knuppe) hangs laundry while her husband admires. She asks him to walk Brooke (Armstrong) to school before opening their store. The inquisitive and oddly detailed Brooke peppers her perturbed father with questions along the way. A sick teacher has Brooke stuck with him at work.

A grown Jimmy (Noah Le Gros) and his gang finds the Briggs farm while escaping Marshal Jarret's (Nick Searcy) posse. Ruth is no match for the despicable criminals. Jimmy's stunned to learn her name. She warns that he'll unleash hell by hurting her. Jimmy has waited a lifetime for this moment. At the store, Brooke realizes that mom didn't come to pick her up from school.

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A ruthless killer tamed by the love of a decent woman is a western lore staple . Her loss triggers the wrath of a dormant murderer. Briggs takes a frightening step but is mitigated by Brooke. She reminds her father of Ruth's expectations. Jarret's disturbed the girl didn't shed a single tear at the horrific discovery. Brooke inherits her father's stoic demeanor. She wants to learn how to use a gun.

The Old Way's second act has Briggs tracking Jimmy's gang. Who excitedly lies in wait for their bloody showdown. The trip allows Brooke to see her father's true nature. He instructs her to fake emotions or risk being ostracized. Sociopaths must hide their lack of feelings. They are wolves among sheep; unable to feel fear while it cripples others.

Armstrong Delivers a Sophisticated Performance

Brooke soaks up her father's teachings in a constructive way. She knows they will have to kill and defend themselves. But doesn't take joy or indifference to the idea of ending life. Brooke's also a reflection of her mother's goodwill. Armstrong, known for the remake of Firestarter , delivers a sophisticated performance. She reminded me of Hailee Steinfeld's star-making turn in True Grit . Armstrong has a bright future as an actress. She gives The Old Way distinction. It would be forgettable without her.

The Old Way is a production of Intercut Capital, Saturn Films, Tri-Fold Pictures, EchoWolf Productions, and Capstone Studios. It will have a theatrical release on January 6th, followed by a VOD premiere on January 13th from Saban Films .

The Old Way Film Review: A Nic Cage Western

• Joseph Tomastik
• January 2, 2023

Nicolas Cage is the unsurprising standout of The Old Way , but his talents are utilized in an otherwise inconsistently directed and written Western.

I usually don’t get drawn to films based solely on their actors, but… The Old Way is a Western starring Nicolas Cage. How was I supposed to not be intrigued? I wanted to see what could be done with that, even if the premise sounded really standard on paper… and sadly, it’s just as standard in the finished product. Nicolas Cage plays Colton Briggs, a man who used to be a killer but is now living a peaceful life with his wife Ruth (Kerry Knuppe) and daughter Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong ). But when another outlaw from his past (Noah Le Gros) comes to take revenge, Colton and Brooke set out to find him and take vengeance back. This brings the killer nature of Colton back out, causes him to question whether it’s right to lead his daughter down this path, forces him to face the sins of his past, and leads to pretty much every other trope you’d probably expect to come out of this setup.

Cage , obviously the biggest draw of The Old Way for most people, thankfully delivers as the standout of the film, and not even in the kind of over-the-top way we all love to meme about. As much fun as it is to laugh at him in his craziest roles, he really is a legitimately great actor both comedically and dramatically, and that’s no different here. He takes this relatively generic material and gives it the weight and intensity that no one else in the film manages to bring, at least not with as much consistency as him. I really wish I could say the same for Ryan Kiera Armstrong , especially considering her age, but she’s really all over the place. Sometimes she’s chillingly good, while other times she’s almost humorously flat. I really don’t blame her, since she has the toughest role in the film, as a girl who’s supposed to be unnaturally tough while also being confused by the world her father is from, while selling all of that coming from a twelve-year-old.

And it’s not like Armstrong is the only inconsistent actor in The Old Way . Nobody’s bad overall, but very rarely does anyone outside of Cage really manage to go above and beyond what the script has for them. Noah Le Gros works well as a smarmy, cocky villain, but he doesn’t bring anything more than that, even though his backstory should have him be more than that. Everyone else is just passable, which I think is more symptomatic of the writing from Carl W. Lucas and directing from Brett Donowho. I’m more than okay with a familiar or by-the-numbers story if it’s either executed really well or given a new spin. The Old Way not only plays the story far too straightforwardly for the latter, but it also contains a lot of dialogue whose only main priority seems to just be to function . There is an occasional really clever line here or there, but for the most part everyone just says what they need to say to move the story along or explain some history or emotion, without really taking any extra steps to have us feel that history or emotion. The few instances where we get a scene that can cut deep are the exceptions rather than the rule.

I’m also not completely sure what tone The Old Way is going for . About 80% of the time, it seems to take itself seriously, from the acting to the writing to how scenes are paced and portrayed. The opening sequence is certainly good at setting a dark, grounded tone, with solid tension and action to boot. But every now and then there’s a really wonky line with a wonkier delivery. One scene features Brooke needing to distract someone by pretending to cry, even though she’s never cried before. And I get that it’s supposed to be off and a little bizarre, but… it’s so off and bizarre that it would only work in a really ridiculous comedy. There are a few scenes like that, where the film tries to have levity but it goes too silly, or where it seems to want to be taken seriously but the material is so clichéd that it gets a bit of an unintentional laugh.

The score (Andrew Morgan Smith) is the same way, too. It works well for the heavier, more suspenseful scenes, but any time it wants you to feel upbeat and happy, it’s overly saccharine and in your face, and it can’t transition well between those two sides. Colton and Brooke have the best scene in the film during an in-depth discussion on what they’re doing and how it affects them, with both of them crushing the performances. But the film almost immediately cuts to them moving along with that upbeat music, and it’s way too jarring. At least The Old Way looks very nice . It’s far from the best-looking Western ever, but Sion Michel’s cinematography does the setting justice, and the framing and blocking can get surprisingly cinematic in a number of scenes, making this at the very least a watchable film.

But that’s as far as I can go in praising The Old Way as a whole: it’s watchable . It’s alright. Nothing about it is terrible, and its merits stand out just enough to balance out what either doesn’t quite work or is too basic to excel. Diehard Nicolas Cage fans will definitely find the film worth watching just for his great work, and those who can’t get enough of Westerns should have enough positive takeaways to be glad they saw it as well. I really can’t think of anyone coming out of this angry that they wasted their time, especially with how quickly the film flies by. But I’d be surprised to see a ton of accolades for it either and wouldn’t call it a must-see at all. Take that for what it’s worth and decide for yourself if you want to give it a shot.

The Old Way will be released in US theaters on January 6, 2023 , and on Digital and PVOD on January 13.

• TAGS: genre: western

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The Old Way Reviews

In the end The Old Way is minor Cage in a minor film, but lovers of Westerns and sleight-of-hand acting will find it a tolerable amusement.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jun 9, 2023

Yep! It's an oater like a saddle fits a horse.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Mar 29, 2023

There's little originality in Carl W. Lucas's contrive, utterly predictable script, blandly directed by Brett Donowho. Don't bother with this dismal Western.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Mar 20, 2023

Fans of westerns know the appeal of simple B-movies, but this one is still a bit disappointing.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 2, 2023

There IS a movie in there somewhere. I don’t know if they just needed more time or if they felt like they had gold on their hands but it could have benefited from one more trip through the drafting phase.

Full Review | Feb 7, 2023

We all want to see Nicolas Cage play a cowboy. The Old Way is not getting the job done.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 28, 2023

It’s a paint-by-numbers Western but Brett Donowho, directing a woeful script by Carl W. Lucas, could barely keep the colours within the lines.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 25, 2023

I had a mild revelation while watching The Old Way, a new Western revenge drama with comedic overtones directed by Brett Donowho and written by Carl W. Lucas: ‘Oh, I guess it is possible to make Nicolas Cage boring. Who knew!’

Full Review | Jan 23, 2023

Director Brett Downwho cleverly avoids unnecessary flourishes, leaving that to the adept cast. So the film strikes a traditional Wild West tone.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 19, 2023

The lack of nuance in the script hobbles what could have been an edgy feud that spans two decades but ends up slack, by-the-numbers and lacking in character development.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 18, 2023

For the 42 people who have lived for 30 years with the unanswered question of "What would Unforgiven be like if it were a Nic Cage movie?" -- here's the answer.

Full Review | Jan 18, 2023

It's just so bland and cheap-looking.

The Old Way’s six-shooter is just firing blanks.

Nicolas Cage phones in a performance which is too serious for the rousing shoot-‘em-up western this wants to be at times and not nearly serious enough for the underwritten Unforgiven backstory that slows everything to a crawl.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 16, 2023

Two elements make the picture worth watching: one is Nicolas Cage, wearily brutal as Colton Briggs, a man who has already completed a lifetime’s worth of killing. The other is Ryan Kiera Armstrong...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 16, 2023

Gropes around at some promising ideas. But the movie is cut too close to the bone, pulling back to meat-and-potatoes genre beats whenever things threaten to get really interesting.

Full Review | Jan 14, 2023

... The best that can be said for The Old Way is that there’s only just over an hour and a half of it.

This simple Western ultimately doesn't have terribly much to say, but Cage's hard-as-an-anvil performance, his chemistry with young Armstrong, and some playful dialogue make it worth a look.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 13, 2023

Thankfully, the film delivers a few little surprises before we get to the inevitable showdown with Noah Le Gros’s outlaw.

Though Cage and Armstrong’s father-daughter dynamic merits praise, The Old Way tries so hard to emulate Westerns past that it squanders a gilt-edged opportunity to do something new.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 13, 2023

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The old way, common sense media reviewers.

Simple but effective revenge Western has violence, swearing.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

More or less demonstrates futility of revenge, but

Only the marshal is interested in right vs. wrong,

Brooke, who's 12, is a smart, bold girl, but -- as

Guns and shooting, with characters shot and killed

Married couple kiss. Some characters are implied t

Language includes "s--t" (some instances by a 12-y

Villain drinks several shots of whiskey and begins

Parents need to know that The Old Way is a Western starring Nicolas Cage as a former killer who takes his 12-year-old daughter on a revenge mission. It's full of colorful characters and playful dialogue but has plenty of mature content. Violence includes guns and shootings (some fatal), blood spurts and…

Positive Messages

More or less demonstrates futility of revenge, but ends on a down note that suggests cycle of violence will continue.

Positive Role Models

Only the marshal is interested in right vs. wrong, but he's a rather ineffective character. It's a small role, and he's often caught unaware or taken hostage, etc. In story's first half, Brooke tries to find solutions to problems other than violence, but by the end, she has embraced violence.

Diverse Representations

Brooke, who's 12, is a smart, bold girl, but -- aside from her mother, who's killed early on, and some sex workers -- the rest of the cast are White men. Part of villains' plan is to head to Mexico to hide out, where the leader is said to have "a little Mexican girl."

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Guns and shooting, with characters shot and killed. Blood spurts. Bloody wound. Young girl threatened and in peril/distress. Woman pistol-whipped in the face, arm broken, murdered (the latter takes place off-screen). Young girl shoots guns. Bloody crime scene. Horses shot and killed, whinnying in pain. Person shot in head. Digging bullet out of character's shoulder, cauterizing wound with hot metal. Character stabbed in back, neck sliced. Person with noose around neck. Buildings set on fire. Character punched in face, with bloody lip. Breaking finger. Man kicked in the crotch. Character steps on another's broken leg, causing pain.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Married couple kiss. Some characters are implied to be sex workers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "s--t" (some instances by a 12-year-old), "ass," "son of a bitch," "goddamn," "hell," "a--hole," "dumbass," "bastard," "balls," "piss," "pecker," "damn," "hell," "turkey bungholes."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Villain drinks several shots of whiskey and begins to (slightly) slur his words. Main character drinks heavily from flask in one scene. Secondary character drinks from flask.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Old Way is a Western starring Nicolas Cage as a former killer who takes his 12-year-old daughter on a revenge mission. It's full of colorful characters and playful dialogue but has plenty of mature content. Violence includes guns and shootings (some fatal), blood spurts and bloody wounds, a woman being pistol-whipped in the face and having her arm broken, and a young girl who's threatened and in peril. The same girl shoots guns, and a bullet is removed (and the wound cauterized). Other scenes show horses being shot and killed, knives, fire, and additional broken bones. Strong language includes several uses of "s--t," "ass," "son of a bitch," "goddamn," "hell," and more. A married couple kiss, and some characters are implied to be sex workers. Characters drink from flasks and do shots of whiskey in a bar. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (1)

Based on 1 parent review

Unoriginal and bad Western movie contains violence and swearing with a bad storyline.

What's the story.

In THE OLD WAY, young Colton Briggs ( Nicolas Cage ) is a stone-cold killer who shoots several people without even blinking. Twenty years later, as the Old West fades away into a New Republic, he's reformed. He's happily married to Ruth (Kerry Knuppe) and has a whip-smart 12-year-old daughter, Brooke ( Ryan Kiera Armstrong ). Unfortunately, dangerous criminal James McCallister ( Noah Le Gros ) has just broken out of prison and has a longstanding vendetta against Briggs. McCallister assembles a crew that includes Big Mike ( Abraham Benrubi ), Boots ( Shiloh Fernandez ), and Eustice ( Clint Howard ) and launches a terrible plan. Despite the warnings of Marshal Jarret ( Nick Searcy ), Briggs takes Brooke on a revenge mission. But are they walking into a trap?

Is It Any Good?

This simple Western ultimately doesn't have terribly much to say, but Cage's hard-as-an-anvil performance, his chemistry with young Armstrong, and some playful dialogue make it worth a look. The Old Way starts out very well, with director Brett Donowho giving writer Carl W. Lucas' words just the right pacing, especially in the terse way that Briggs and Brooke speak to each other, he with gruff, stoic commands and she with cold logic (she's like a Wild West Wednesday Addams). The villains are a colorful bunch, too, with the silver-tongued McCallister as the leader, lumbering Big Mike, loose-cannon Boots, and cranky old-timer Eustice (played by cult fave Howard). The dialogue promises a real treat when the chase is over and the showdown begins -- "you boys have woke up the devil," the villains are warned -- but unfortunately, The Old Way just kind of ... ends. It half-heartedly shrugs at ideas of revenge being ill-fated and of certain qualities being passed on from generation to generation, but it doesn't really do anything with these notions.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Old Way 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

How would you describe the relationship between 12-year-old Brooke and violence ? Does she seem repelled by or attracted to it? Is it just a matter-of-fact thing? Does she face consequences ?

What is the nature of revenge? Can it be good? Bad? Both? How?

What makes the Western genre appealing? What can stories of the Old West tell us about who we are today?

Characters drink casually throughout the movie, both from flasks and in bars. Does drinking seem glamorized? Are any consequences shown? Why does that matter?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 6, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : January 13, 2023
• Cast : Nicolas Cage , Ryan Kiera Amrstrong , Noah Le Gros
• Director : Brett Donowho
• Studios : Saban Films , Lionsgate
• Genre : Western
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence
• Last updated : April 13, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

• Saban Films

Summary Colton Briggs (Nicolas Cage) is a cold-blooded gunslinger turned respectable family man. When an outlaw and his gang put Colton and his family in peril, Colton is forced to take up arms with an unlikely partner — his 12-year-old daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong).

Written By : Carl W. Lucas

The Old Way

Where to watch.

Nicolas Cage

Colton briggs, ryan kiera armstrong, brooke briggs, clint howard, katelyn bauer, noah le gros, james mccallister, abraham benrubi, nick searcy, marshal jarrett, dean armstrong, phillip aguirre, store owner, everett blunck, young jimmy mccallister, brett donowho, corporal lawrence, shiloh fernandez, corby griesenbeck, walter mccallister, boyd kestner, robert mccallister, kerry knuppe, ruth briggs, adam lazarre-white, beau linnell, jeff medley, craig branham, critic reviews.

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The Old Way: Nicolas Cage’s western is neither good enough nor mad enough

Cage has strong paternal chemistry with Ryan Kiera Armstrong as his daughter, but this True Grit-style tale otherwise fails to deliver

The Nicolas Cage aficionado carries two hopes into each of the 59-year-old actor’s new films. The first – not often met, truth be told – is that it will be good. And the second, failing that, is that it will be mad. Alas, this thin and lumpy western is neither: even the name of its director, Brett Donowho, feels like a baleful forewarning of the anonymous style in which it was made.

Cage plays Colton Briggs, a former bounty hunter now earning an honest keep as a shopkeeper in rural Wyoming, having taken a wife and fathered a child since his gunslinging days. A brief prologue, in which Cage promisingly sports a moustache the size of an Airedale terrier, establishes his dead-eyed credentials, as he coolly picks off everyone involved in a public hanging that turns nasty, up to and including the intended victim. 

Two decades later, our now disappointingly moustache-free hero is stumbled upon by the victim’s embittered son James McCallister (Noah Le Gros), a bandit who exacts his long-stewed revenge by killing Ruth (Kerry Knuppe), Briggs’s pretty spouse. Fuming and heartsore, Briggs sets off in pursuit of McCallister and his three cronies, with his daughter Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) riding by his side. In short, the premise is an off-brand, lo-cal spin on True Grit: call it Diet Grit, or Grit Zero, or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Grit.

At times you may find yourself wondering if The Old Way’s script, by Carl W Lucas, was adjusted to accommodate Cage’s availability: there’s too much of the four bandits and not quite enough of him, and the narrative balance feels off. And while the dialogue often mimics the wordiness of True Grit’s, it never comes close to its flinty frontier elegance: one would-be-poignant monologue is delivered by Cage as if the actor is chewing a rubber chicken, and unfortunately not as an active stylistic choice.

He does, however, have strong paternal chemistry with the 12-year-old Armstrong, who gives Brooke a breezy precociousness that smacks of the western child actress who unnerves Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The scenes of her and Cage bonding on the trail, whether practising their marksmanship or jointly cauterising a US Marshall’s gunshot wound, aren’t moving, exactly, but they’re certainly sweet.

Cage is now closing in on his 100th live action role – a milestone which, based on his current rate of output, he should reach at some point next year. Surprisingly, The Old Way is his first straightforward western, though he shot a second, Butcher’s Crossing, immediately afterwards. Perhaps that one will be better. Perhaps it will be madder. As ever, hope springs eternal.

15 cert, 95 min. In cinemas and on demand from Friday February 13

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'Downtown Owl': '80s period piece doesn't know what it wants to be

Co-director lily rabe stars as small-town newcomer in disjointed adaptation of chuck klosterman novel..

Naomi (Vanessa Hudgens, left) invites newcomer Julia (Lily Rabe) out to the bar in “Downtown Owl.”

Stage 6 Films

Let’s talk about the high school football team in the disjointed and tonally uncertain Americana period piece “Downtown Owl,” an adaptation of the 2008 debut novel by the cool and acclaimed pop culture essayist and author Chuck Klosterman.

By my count, we see a maximum of eight players in a practice sequence, even fewer in a locker room scene. Granted, we’re not talking about “Friday Night Lights” or “Rudy” here — this isn’t a football movie — but even for a low-budget, indie-style film, it’s not that much of a financial strain to at least put enough extras in uniforms to reasonably approximate an actual team. The same goes for the high school classroom and hallway scenes here; it appears there are only a handful of students, only a couple of teachers.

All right, let’s say co-directors (and real-life partners) Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater are going for something approximating a filmed stage play, with dialogue ranging from gritty and grounded to self-consciously stylized. Still, whether it’s the depictions of high school life that are so unrealistic they take us out of the movie, or the inconsistent and frequently off-putting actions by Rabe’s Julia in the lead role, “Downtown Owl” never quite seems fully confident of its identity and purpose. It’s an occasionally interesting, well-acted mess.

The story kicks off with Julia arriving in the cloistered town of Owl, North Dakota, in 1983, where she has taken a temporary teaching job while her husband finishes his graduate thesis. Julia is immediately befriended by the boisterous and obnoxious Naomi (an overacting Vanessa Hudgens, affecting an accent that makes it sound like she watched “Fargo” one too many times), who has little trouble cajoling Julia into getting hammered nearly every night. (They’re usually the only women at the bar, which is populated by dull men with nicknames such as Dog Lover, Bull Calf, The Flaw Brothers and Brother Killer.)

Nearly every character in “Downtown Owl” is more of a type or a symbol. Old-timey townie Horace (the great Ed Harris) is the moral conscience of the town, who lives a life of overwhelming sadness while caring for his comatose wife. Bison rancher Vance (Henry Golding), a rather dim and uninteresting fellow, is still treated like a hero due to one unlikely play he made as a backup quarterback years ago. Sensitive football player Mitch (August Blanco Rosenstein), who doesn’t even like football, probably knows he’ll be going through a Vince state and then the Horace stage of his life in this nowhere town. We get it.

The filmmakers also fumble an absolutely cringe-y subplot about the football coach (Finn Wittrock) impregnating a student (Arden Michalec). Through all of this, Rabe plays it to the rafters, turning Julia into a mostly unlikable and at times pathetically misguided trainwreck who keeps making bad decisions. When Julia tries to offer guidance to a troubled student, the reply comes: “No offense, but if I needed to talk to an adult, why would I talk to you?”

• Sublime ‘How I Learned What I Learned’ delves into life lessons that shaped writer August Wilson

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the old guard.

Now streaming on:

Just as Ryan Coogler crafted “ Black Panther ” as an entry in his own directorial universe, Gina Prince-Bythewood casts her Netflix superhero film, “The Old Guard” in her own stylistic image. The director of “Love and Basketball,” “ The Secret Life of Bees ,” and “ Beyond the Lights ” enjoys scenes where her characters get all up in their feelings, and she invites you to climb in there with them. These are some introspective characters, a by-product of their having lived for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Several times, the camera lingers on their faces as they contemplate, or remember, the sadness of losing someone. The film sits patiently with these moments, putting the same level of importance on the characters and their emotions as it does on the action. A scene of Andy ( Charlize Theron ) savoring a piece of baklava carries the same weight as a scene of her cleaving a foe with a gigantic battle ax.

Andy is the eldest member of an elite band of people who appear to be immortal. The opening scene features a flash-forward to their bullet-ridden bodies; a little later, we see them rising up fully healed after this slaughter, spitting out the bullets that have penetrated their faces as they mow down their opponents. This squad of four is about to be joined by a fifth member, Nile ( KiKi Layne ), a Marine stationed in Afghanistan whose slit throat suddenly heals itself. She is also plagued by nightmarish visions of other team members, a psychic link that, according to Booker ( Matthias Schoenaerts ), only shuts down once they have all met. Until Nile showed up, Booker was the Guard’s youngest member, joining in 1812.

Since “ Mad Max: Fury Road ” cemented Theron’s ability to weld her Oscar-winning acting skills onto the bodies of fierce warriors who kick ass, “The Old Guard” treats us to a great, plane-bound fight between Nile and Andy. The two showcase their battle credentials while Andy offers gruesome examples of Nile’s ability to heal. With Nile’s braided, natural hairdo and Andy’s Karen-style coif, their battle plays like an unintentional and vengeful commentary on those angry “can I speak to a manager” videos plaguing social media. What does feel intentional, however, is the inclusivity inherent in the depiction of the immortals, both in flashbacks and in its current timeline. They are played by a variety of different races and it never once feels forced or pandering.

In addition to observing the humanity of its heroes, “The Old Guard” also employs Prince-Bythewood’s penchant for grandiose, melodramatic gestures that shouldn’t work at all yet play out masterfully. Think about Noni on that balcony in “Beyond the Lights,” or Monica setting the terms of the climactic game in “Love and Basketball.” Here, the moment occurs between Andy’s teammates Nicolo ( Luca Marinelli ) and Joe ( Marwan Kenzari ). By virtue of their shared immortality, these men have been together for hundreds of years. They are lovers whose “Meet Cute” occurred when they were constantly killing each other during the Crusades. After they’ve been captured by minions of our villain, the evil pharmaceutical dudebro, Merrick ( Harry Melling ), Joe’s concern for his fallen comrade is mocked with homophobic intent. “Is he your boyfriend?” his captor asks. Joe’s response with a declaration of love as shamelessly florid as it is heartfelt, putting that paltry moment of LGBTQ representation in “ Avengers: Endgame ” to shame.

Writer Greg Rucka , who adapted the graphic novel he wrote with Leandro Fernandez , hits all the standard story beats of this genre. There’s the obvious exception to the immortality rule, an over-the top villain, the villain’s conflicted right hand man ( Chiwetel Ejiofor ), a very sad backstory of torment for Andy, a betrayal, a climactic rescue mission, and even a scene that sets up the sequel. But he and Prince-Bythewood always support these familiarities with their actors’ ability to depict how strongly bound together their characters are. There are numerous scenes where people just talk to each other, either to get exposition out of the way or to propel the story forward, and every time, we come away feeling as if we know these people. So when the torture-filled middle portion kicks in, there is genuine concern for our heroes. These scenes force us to question the terror of being condemned to a lifetime of gruesome medical experiments simply because you cannot shuffle off this mortal coil.

Though it contains more dramatic sequences than most superhero movies, “The Old Guard” doesn’t scrimp on the good, old-fashioned violence. Combat scenes are filmed so you can see who’s doing what, and edited together for maximum carnage and effect by Prince-Bythewood’s usual editor, Terilyn A. Shropshire . Shropshire is a favorite of directors like Kasi Lemmons and, as seen in her work in the first episode of Ava DuVernay's “ When They See Us ,” she’s very good at alternating between intimate drama and the much wider scope of action, keeping both speeds in balance. The cinematography by Barry Ackroyd and Tami Reiker is also quite good; their sequences at night and inside rooms have the same richness as their brightly lit outdoor shots of France and the desert.

"The Old Guard” has the benefit of not carrying the strict, fan-driven baggage of the Marvel and DC movies. As a result, it may not get the attention it deserves. But this is an excellent example of what this type of film can be, one I hope will be studied by the much bigger-budgeted tentpoles you know and love. I can’t remember the last time I was actually pumped to see a sequel based on a “post-credits” teaser—to be honest, I never know what the hell is going on in most of them—but this one made me wish Netflix had switched me immediately to the next installment as the credits rolled.

Now playing on Netflix.

Odie Henderson

Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire  here .

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The Old Guard (2020)

Rated R for sequences of graphic violence, and language.

118 minutes

Charlize Theron as Andromache of Scythia / Andy

KiKi Layne as Nile Freeman

Matthias Schoenaerts as Booker

Marwan Kenzari as Yusuf Al-Kaysani / Joe

Luca Marinelli as Nicky

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Copley

Harry Melling as Merrick

• Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writer (based on the graphic novel series by)

Writer (comic book co-creator).

• Leandro Fernandez

Cinematographer

• Barry Ackroyd
• Tami Reiker
• Terilyn A. Shropshire
• Volker Bertelmann
• Dustin O'Halloran

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