Dawn Rider (2012)

Christian Slater is John Mason, a former outlaw, a fast gun nicknamed “Cincinnati” though he claims he’s never been there, a man with a bounty hunter on his trail and a score of his own to settle.

Donald Southerland plays the bounty hunter who’ll get a bonus for taking Mason in alive.

But Mason is more concerned about finding the masked men who killed his dad during a holdup in Promise, Wyoming.

In the meantime, he’s reacquainted with an old flame named Alice (Jill Hennessy).

She and her brother Rudd are on the verge of losing their ranch because they can’t make a $5,000 mortgage payment.

Oh, and Mason is bedding Alice even though he knows his dad’s Express office co-worker, Ben McClure, wants to propose to her.

Meanwhile, there’s one big clue to his father’s killers — a Double X brand on the shoulder of each of the outlaws.

Christian Slater as John Mason, looking for the man who killed his father in Dawn Rider (2012)

Lochlyn Munro as Rudd Gordon, getting ready to face off against an old friend in Dawn Rider (2012)

Review:

An attempt at a serious Western that falls short for a whole bunch of reasons, but first and foremost a haphazard, almost schizophrenic pace that will have you asking “huh?” more than once.

For instance, in one scene, Alice is bidding farewell to Mason, making him promise to come back safe as he heads off to face the masked bandits.

Moments later, he’s facing the masked bandits in the middle of the street, and Alice is there to try to stop them from beating him senseless.

And, please, could characters in Westerns stop talking about feeding dead men to pigs? Pretty please. The best thing about this is the title song.

Jill Hennessy as Alice Gordon, getting reacquainted with John Mason in Dawn Rider (2012)

Donald Sutherland as Pop, long on the trail of John Mason for the bounty on his head in Dawn Rider (2012)

Directed by:
Terry Miles

Cast:
Christian Slater … John Mason
Ben Cotton … Ben McClure
Donald Sutherland … Pop
Kenneth W. Yanko … Dad Mason
Jill Hennessy … Alice Gordon
Lochlyn Munro .. Rudd Gordon
Adrian Hough … Sheriff Cobb
Claude Duhamel … Curly
Matt Bellefleur … Greyson
G. Michael Gray … Bragg
Douglas Chapman … Chase
George Canyon … Cattle Jack

Runtime: 94 min.

Songs:
“Dawn Rider” and “Wayfaring Stranger”
sung by George Canyon

Ben Cotton as Ben McClure, being robbed by masked bandits in Dawn Rider (2012)

Kenneth W. Yanko as Dad Mason, greeting his son with a rifle in Dawn Rider (2012)

Memorable lines:

John Mason: “I ain’t ever been to Cincinnati.”

Dad Mason: “I told you I’d shoot you on sight.”
John Mason: “You’re looking right at me.”
Dad Mason: “Yeah, well, my eyes ain’t what they used to be.”

John Mason: “I’m gonna give you an hour to get out of town.”
Ben McClure: “How is it you’re the one threatening me, yet you’re the one behind bars.”
John Mason: “Fifty-nine minutes.”

Curly, ready to bed Alice, and reaching under her pillow: “Uh-huh, everyone knows you keep a derringer under your pillow, darling.”
A few seconds and a gunshot later.
Alice Gordon: “I had to switch hiding place. And it ain’t no fuckin’ derringer.”

Adrian Hough as Sheriff Cobb with Christian Slater as John Mason in Dawn Rider (2012)

Jill Hennessy as Alice Gordon, reacting when someone hears something they shouldn’t have in Dawn Rider (2012)

Lochlyn Munro as Rudd Gordon, ready to do anything to keep his ranch in Dawn Rider (2012)