Brothers in Arms (2005)

Gabriel Casseus is Linc Malone, Antwon Tanner plays his younger brother Zane, and they have their eyes on robbing the bank in Corazon to settle as old debt with Driscoll (David Carradine).

He’s the man who runs the town, has settlers killed when they’re in the way of his railroad and eventually has the town renamed Driscollville.

To pull off this job, Linc gets together a gang that includes a card sharp named Kansas, who was once tortured by the KKK; a fallen preacher known simply as The Reverend, who watched his family gunned down; and a part-Indian, part-black beauty named Mara (Kenya Moore), who’s handy with dynamite.

But during a scouting trip to plan the robbery, the Malone brothers stumble across Bert Driscoll, the town leader’s son, in the local saloon.

Seems it was Bert who burned the Malone ranch years earlier. Zane can’t resist the opportunity to gun him down.

That, of course, complicates matters.

Does the gang dare ride back into Corazon after that killing? Or will that be the place they’re least expected to show up?

Also complicating matters is the fact that Linc’s former lady love is sheriff.

And Driscoll has hired a bounty hunter named Wolverton to track down the gang that killed his son.

Review:

First off, suspend any sense of realism, because this gang includes a former Miss USA in Moore, and the sheriff in Corazon is a lovely latina. There’s an occasional continuity problem. One character is shot several times in the stomach; when the body is dragged from the bank floor, the bullet holes seem to have disappeared. At another point, unarmed hostages in the bank suddenly have guns.

All that said, this is much better — in terms of acting, cinematography and script — than counterparts like “Ride Sweet, Die Slow” and “Gang of Roses.” It helps greatly that much of the film, from the 49-minute mark on, focus on the bank holdup gone awry and the ensuing drama.

Kenya Moore was Miss USA in 1993 and went on to place third in the Miss Universe pagent. She starred on the reality show “Real Housewives of Atlanta” beginning in Season 5, though she isn’t married.

Directed by:
Jean-Calude La Marre

Cast:
Gabriel Casseus … Linc Malone
Antwon Tanner … Zane Malone
Kurupt … Kansas
Kenya Moore … Mara
Raymond Cruz … The Reverend
David Carradine … Driscoll
Idalis DeLeon … Sheriff Sanchez
Ed Lauter … Mayor Crawley
Peter Green … Bert
David Gianopoulos .. Wolverton

Runtime: 85 min.

Music by:
Aimee-Lynn Chadwick
Chioke Dmachi
Flexx
London Thompson

Runtime: 85 min.

Memorable lines:

Linc: “My friend the Reverend — Some say he found God. After the devil rejected him.”

Bert: “You can’t expect me to remember every farm I burn.”

Mayor: “Something has to be done about this rampant violence.”
Sheriff Sanchez: “We can get rid of it today.”
Mayor: “We can?”
Sheriff: “With a million dollars and the 7th Cavalry.”

Zane, during bank robbery: “Touch it (a gun), and you got two choices: Die slow or die slower.’