Senator-elect Edward Johnson (Peter Fonda) and longtime partner (Lefty Brown) are looking for three lost horses when tragedy strikes.
Eddie is shot in the head and killed by one of the thieves who stole the horses; Brown is stunned in a fall from his horse.
When he comes to, he’s told the U.S. Army will take care of the job of finding Eddie’s killer.
But letting someone else handle that job … well, it just doesn’t seem natural to Lefty.
After all, Lefty and Eddie rode together for 40 years. Eddie was in the process of giving Lefty a prized rifle when he was gunned down.
And Lefty was supposed to take over the running of Eddie’s ranch once he headed off to Washington, in spite of the objections of Eddie’s wife (Kathy Brown as Laura Johnson).
Lefty figures he’s got a real posse once he rescues a tenderfoot who’s good with a gun (Diego Josef as Jeremiah Perkins) and convinces U.S. Marshal Tom Harrah (Tommy Flanagan) to ride along.
They find their prey thanks largely to Lefty’s perseverance.
But they also learn a disturbing truth: Eddie’s death might not have been a simple killing committed by horse thieves.
Bill Pullman as Lefty Brown with his trusty shotgun in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Tommy Flanagan as Tom Harrah is haunted by one of Jeremiah’s Wild West stories in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Review:
Well-done Western for the 2010s, filmed partly in the ghost town of Bannack, Montana. And it sure is nice to see Bill Pullman in the saddle again.
But the murder mystery part of the plot seems implausible. So does the ending. What in the heck was the U.S. Army — with its heavy presence during the climatic showdown — doing when that took place?
But Kathy Brown does a nice job as the widow not nearly as convinced as her husband in Lefty’s loyalty or competence. So does Tommy Flanagan as the lawman trying to stay away from the bottle.
And there’s an especially good scene in which Lefty, his young cohort and their captive are stripped to their long-johns and threatened when the rest of the captive’s gang can’t find the loot from what was supposed to be a handsome payoff.
Peter Fonda as senator-elect Edward Johnson in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Kathy Brown as Laura Johnson, the senator’s widow, in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Directed by:
Jared Moshe
Cast:
Bill Pullman … Lefty Brown
Peter Fonda … Edward Johnson
Kathy Brown … Laura Johnson
Tommy Flanagan … Tom Harrah
Jim Caviezell … Jimmy Bierce
Diego Josef … Jeremiah Perkins
Joe Anderson … Frank Baines
Adam O’Byrne … Thaddeus Crobley
Stephen Alan Sedeer … Noah DeBow
Joseph Lee Anderson … Oak
Tyson Gerhardt … Irish Williams
Lewis Pullman … Billy Kitchen
Dillinger Steele … Doc
Michael Spears … Biscuit
Seth Carlin … Tanner
Tony Hernandez … Bartender
Emily Jones … Red Blake
Nathan McTague … Karl
Runtime: 111 min.
Jim Caviezell as Montana Gov. Jimmy Bierce in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Joe Anderson as outlaw Frank Baines in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Memorable lines:
Lefty Brown: “All’s I’m saying is, you just can’t go and throw a rope around a man’s neck whenever the hell it pleases ya.”
Edward Johnson: “It don’t ever please me.”
Edward Johnson: “A more loyal man than Lefty Brown hasn’t walked this earth.”
His wife Laura: “Loyal isn’t capable.”
Lefty Brown to Edward Johnson: “I ain’t ever let you down and I’m too old to change my ways now.”
Edward Johnson to Lefty: “I reckon you’re gonna stand tall or you ain’t. I’ll wager on the first.”
Frank Baines to Tom Flanagan: “Hey, marshal, when I get to hell, I’ll make sure I pay your wife a little visit.”
Diego Josef as Jeremiah Perkins in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Adam O’Bryne as Thaddeus Crobley, the governor’s man, under Lefty Brown’s gun in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Joseph Lee Anderson as Oak, one of Johnson’s ranch hands, in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Tommy Flanagan as Tom Harrah, ready for action in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
Bill Pullman as Lefty Brown about to confront some thieves in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)
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