Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Wes Brown is bounty hunter Wes Rawlins, who returns from a mission to two pieces of shocking news.

The first: His mother has been murdered. The second: The father he thought was dead has surfaced; his mom wrote a letter to him just before her death.

Thinking the two developments might be related, Wes rides off to meet Ray Eastman (Kevin Sorbo), wondering if he’ll have to kill him in vengeance.

He finds a remarried rancher who has nothing but kind words for Rawlins’ mother. Turns out Eastman thought she had died years earlier in an Indian attack.

But right now, Eastman has a problem of his own. A neighboring rancher named Peter Dowdy wants his land, and will apparently stop at nothing to get it.

The fact that he has one son named Art wearing a sheriff’s badge and another named J.T. who fancies himself a fast gun means he has help enforcing his will.

Ray’s help? Well, he has two old-timers named Baldy and Jonesy in his employment, a son named Chuck who’s just learning to use a gun, and a tomboyish daughter named Rosalie who takes a quick shine to the bounty man.

So Wes decides to hang around, figuring his own gun might come in handy.

Wes Brown as Wes Rawlins, ready to confront whomever killed his mother in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Kevin Sorbo as Ray Eastman, the father Wes Rawlins has never known in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Review:

Brown turns in a solid performance as the good-looking loner, and the fact that a member of Eastman’s own family is helping plot his demise provides a neat little twist to this tale.

In fact, you’ll find yourself settling in and enjoying an above-average TV Western until the last 20 minutes unravel in rather illogical fashion.

The Eastman clan somehow magically knows precisely where their cowboys are being ambushed. They also magically know when the Dowdy clan is going to attack.

As for the Dowdy bunch, they just go gun crazy, as though there couldn’t possibly be any consequence to murdering innocents.

Still, a likable cast makes this worth watching at a time when lots of the Westerns being released are low-budget stinkers.

Greg Evigan as Peter Dowdy, scheming to take Ray Eastman’s ranch in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Gail O’Grady as Mona Eastman, Ray’s conniving wife, trying to push Wes away in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Directed by:
David S. Cass Sr.

Cast:
Wes Brown … Wes Rawlins
Kevin Sorbo … Ray Eastman
Gail O’Grady … Mona Eastman
Shannon Lucio … Rosalie Eastman
Dave Florek … Baldy
Stephen Bridgewater … Jonesy
Micah Alberti … Chuck Eastman
Greg Evigan … Peter Dowdy
Shane Johnson … Art Dowdy
Andrew Lawrence … J.T. Dowdy
Erik Aude … Thor Welsh
Dusty Sorg … Potluck
Barry Corbin … Jake Rawlins
Meredith Baxter … Emilie Rawlins
Tate Ammons … Clem Welsh

Runtime: 87 min.

Stephen Bridgewater as Sam ‘Jonesy’ Jones, foreman on the Eastman ranch in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Dave Florek as Baldy, one of Ray Eastman’s loyal ranch hands in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Memorable lines:

Emilie Rawlins to Wes, as he rides off with vengeance on his mind: “Your mother was a kind, sweet soul. Settle this with her heart in your mind.”

Rosalie Eastman: “Does my flirting make you nervous?”
Wes Rawlins: “Edgy is more like it.”

Baldy to Sheriff Dowdy: “That badge don’t make you bulletproof.”

J.T. Rawlins: “Sally, we need another round.”
Saloon owner Sally: “Well, then you’d best settle up before your brain forgets what you owe.”

Shannon Lucio as Rosalie Eastman, Ray’s somewhat rebellious daughter in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Micah Alberti as Chuck Eastman, shocked that he just took a life in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Rosalie Eastman: “Don’t speak, Mr. Rawlins?”
Wes Rawlins: “When I have something to say.”

Mona Eastman: “That girl needs to be locked up in finishing school.”
Chuck Eastman: “They threw her out.”

Sally Eastman: “Are you really a bounty hunter?”
Wes Rawlins: “From time to time.”

Andrew Lawrence as J.T. Dowdy, the rowdiest of Peter Dowdy’s sons in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Shane Johnson as Art Dowdy, Peter’s son and the law in these here parts in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Barry Corbin as Jake Rawlins, the man who took in Wes Rawlins’ mom and helped raise him in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Meredith Baxter as Emilie Rawlins, comforting Wes Rawlins at his mother’s gravesite in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Deirdre Lovejoy as Sally Bates, the saloon owner tired of watching the Dowdys throw their weight around in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Wes Brown as Wes Rawlins, a sometimes bounty hunter sniffing out an ambush in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)