Jill Wagner is Susan Tilwicky, a widow trying to eek out a living on a ranch left behind by her husband. Her only help: her young son Tommy (Jet Jergensmeyer).

A stranger named Sam Barnes (Adam Baldwin) comes along and helps them break horses to be sold at market in an attempt to save the farm from foreclosure.

He quickly befriends Tommy, who’s fascinated by the Old West and, at the moment, by the tale of a bank robber named Shooter Green.

Turns out Barnes knew Shooter and can tell the true story of a cocky young gunman who rode into Tucson in 1896, aiming to win bets with his marksmanship.

But the drifter stopped drifting because he met and fell for pretty Josie Hayes (Alexandra DeBerry), the daughter of a banker.

In order to make enough money to marry her, Shooter took a job guarding gold-laden stages for Virgil Earp. All went well until his fellow guards got greedy and decided to rob one of those stages.

Shooter wound up fleeing on a horse carrying the stolen loot, buried it in 5-Mile Cave and wound up on the run for a crime he didn’t commit.

Adam Baldwin as Sam Barnes in The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)

Jill Wagner as Susan Tilwicky in The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)

Review:

A well-done, well-acted family Western that’s longer on story than action and still manages to be quite entertaining.

The flashbacks benefit from the presence of Jeremy Sumpter as the handsome Shooter Green and lovely Alexandra DeBerry as the sassy gal who tames him just a bit.

Adam Baldwin also does a fine job as the stranger who isn’t who he pretends to be. And Jill Wagner shines as the stubborn widow unwilling to give up her ranch, the one thing her husband left behind.

All that said, if you like your Westerns gritty and mature, you’d best look elsewhere. This will likely strike you as a bit hokey.

Jet Jergensmeyer as Tommy Tilwicky in The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)

William Shockley as the present day sheriff in The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)

Directed by:
Brent Christy

Cast:
Adam Baldwin … Sam Barnes
Jeremy Sumpter … Shooter Green
Jill Wagner … Susan Tilwicky
Jet Jergensmeyer … Tommy Tilwicky
Alexandra DeBerry … Josie Hayes
Randy Wayne … Doc
William Shockley … Sheriff
Tom Proctor … Virgil Earp
Danny Vinson … Sheriff Bean
Rob Moran … William Davis
Mark Jeffrey Miller … Wade Kinsley
Roxzane T. Mims … Sally
Stefanie Butler … Martha Lowery

Runtime: 90 min.

Jeremy Sumpter as Shooter Green in The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)

Alexandra DeBerry as Josie Hayes in The Legend of 5 Mile Cave (2019)

Memorable lines:

Shooter Green: “My name’s Shooter Green. And I can shoot a flea off a dog at 50 yards.”

Sam Barnes, telling the tale of Shooter: “Yep, Shooter Green had a masterful command of a gun. But his heart? That was another matter altogether.”

Sam Barnes, when Tommy makes a face about Shooter and Josie kissing: “Oh, there will come a time when you will think quite differently. I can guarantee it. Even you are not immune to the power of the female persuasion.”
Tommy: “They didn’t make a vaccine for it or something?”

Doc: “Arizona Territory is paying for our horses. Are they also paying for our tombstones?”