Jesse James Unchained (2022) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

John Bradley Hambrick is Jesse James, an outlaw who has fled Missouri and landed in Tennessee with brother Frank.

Frank wants to quit the outlaw trail and try his hand at farming. Maybe even marry, one girl if not two.

None of that appeals to Jesse, who wants to go on one last ride.

En route, he learns someone has massacred homesteaders in Sugar Hollow and used his name in executing that dastardly deed.

So he dispatches the next former James Gang member he comes across, then sets out to find his three colleagues.

He hasn’t gone far when he comes across a damsel in distress, tied to a tree.

Being at gentleman at heart, Jesse cuts her free.

And quickly learns she’s no lady. She’s a female bounty hunter named Belle Hart (Rachel Redolfi) who’s just lured Jesse into her trap.

Next thing you know, they’re handcuffed together and the key to the handcuffs are no where in sight.

But those former gang members are now on Jesse’s trail, determined to prove he isn’t as immortal as his legend might imply.

John Bradley Hambrick as Jesse James, contemplating his future in Jesse James Unchained (2022)

Rachael Redolfi as Belle Hart, the bounty hunter on Jesse James trail in Jesse James Unchained (2022)

Review:

Spirited performanes from John Bradley Hambrick and Rachel Redolfi, solid camera work and a script that doesn’t take the subject too seriously make this a fairly entertaining low-budget Western.

But make no mistake, it’s a low-budget Western. After all, there’s nary a horse in sight, a cast of about a half dozen and a brief runtime padded by flashbacks filled with Civil War re-enactors.

Director Henrique Couto has a cameo as the hard-drinking first gang member Jesse encounters. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done with the same material and a much larger budget.

Couto also directed Calamity Jane’s Revenge (2015).

John French as Red, leader of the remnants of the Jesse James gang in Jesee James Unchained (2022)

John French as Red, leader of the remnants of the Jesse James gang in Jesse James Unchained (2022)

Joe Kidd as Frank James, ready to try his hand at farming after fleeing Missouri in Jesse James Unchained (2022)

Directed by:
Henrique Couto

Cast
John Bradley Hambrick … Jesse James
Rachael Redolfi … Belle Hart
John French … Red
Joe Kidd … Frank James
Keith Tomlin … Toothless John
Eric Widing … Mitt
Henrique Couto … Bud

Runtime: 77 min.

Eric Widing as Mitt, one of Jesse James’ former gang members in Jesse James Unchained (2022)

Keith Tomlin as Toothless John, ready to take a stand against Jesse James in Jesse James Unchained (2022)

Memorable lines:

Frank Jame, announcing his plans to settle down on a farm with maybe one wife, maybe two: “Dammit, Jesse, I don’t want to do this without ya.”
Jesse James: “Well, I ain’t ready for two wives and a passel of chickens.”

Jesse James, having shot a former gang member for using his name: “There’s only one Jesse James!”

Red of Jesse: “Don’t say his name like he’s somebody. He can be kilt like any man.”

Red to Mitt: “If you only want to shoot him once, you must not really want to kill him.”

Jesse James, when Toothless John orders him to step out from cover: “God dammit, John, I mean I’m literally handcuffed to a woman.”
Toothless John, laughing: “Back in Deadwood, you had to pay extra for something like that.”

Jesse James: “There ain’t a horse to steal, a farmer to rob or a blacksmith to hold at gunpoint. Tennessee has been a real bust for me.”