The five are five men who pull off a bank robbery at the direction of and under the planning of a feisty female.
They include Scott (John Mars), an old acquaintance of said lady; Murphy (Tom Dragt), who figures he has a debt to pay for past deeds; Ladd (Michael P. Walker), a young man trying to free his lover from the sheriff’s corrupt grip; and Hayes (Frank McCaden), an old-timer determined to die with his boots on rather than in a hospital bed.
They get away with the money in spite of a few hitches. But tension builds at their hideout while they wait for the woman to arrive so they can split the stolen loot.
You see, she has that loot. And she’s set some iron-clad rules: Everyone stays in the hideout until she arrives. And no one inside the hideout can be armed.
Inside, bickering gives way to mistrust and growing apprehension that either the woman won’t show or there’s a double dealer among the five.
After all, one of the five six-guns on the table in the middle of the room has gone missing.
John Marrs as Scott, the man who tries to hold the gang together until the loot arrives in The Five (2023)
Tom Dragt as Murphy, the most mean-spirited and mistrusting of the gang in The Five (2023)
Review:
Travis Mills of 12 Westerns in 12 Months acclaim returns to the genre with an intriguing concept and a film that will remind you a bit of Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.”
Unfortunately, the low budget is painfully obvious in the action scenes and most of the bickering that takes place in the cabin — over food, coffee, a storm that never comes and where to hide the bullets that had been in the coffee pot — comes off as unconvincingly contrived drama.
Then there’s the bank robbery in which one bandit calls another by name in front of a room full of customers and in which the getaway horses are being held about a mile out of town, which means quite a long dash for outlaws as “seasoned” as these.
Fortunately, Mills has some clever redeeming punches to pull in the final 10 minutes, bringing the endeavor to a rather satisfying conclusion.
But if you really want to watch Mills at his best, check out 2021’s “Heart of the Gun” (also starring Mars) and “She Was the Deputy’s Wife” (also 2021).
Oh, the fifth member of the five is Todd South as Cooper, meaning every named male in the cast gets the last name of a well-known Western actor.
Michael P. Walker as Ladd, a man determined to free a former love from the sheriff’s grip in The Five (2023)
Frank McCadon as Carson Hayes, the old-timer who knows he’s dying in The Five (2023)
Directed by:
Travis Mills
Cast:
John Marrs … Scott
Todd South … Cooper
Tom Dragt … Murphy
Michael P. Walker … Ladd
Frank McCadon … Carson Hayes
Cat Roberts … Barbara
Paul Bloom … Van Cleef
Alexis Dubbs … Maria
J.D. Pepper … The Sheriff
William Carr … Doctor
William Chandler … Bartender
Mark Henning … Barber
Runtime: 76 min.
Cat Roberts as Barbara. the woman behind the bank job in The Five (2023)
J.D. Pepper as the corrupt sheriff in The Five (2023)
Memorable lines:
Barbara: “Put your guns on the table.”
Murphy: “What the hell for?”
Scott: “Because she calls the shots.”
Barbara: “It’s good practice.”
Scott, of Murphy: “Nothing sits right with you. He (Murphy) jumps around like a rabbit with a cactus up its ass.”
Murphy, getting hungry: “There must be some vermin out there ready to be killed.”
Maria of the sheriff: “He has so many secrets. And I’m one of them.”
Murphy of Cooper: “You can never trust a quiet man.”
Barbara, stepping into a cabin where her bank robbers are ready to start killing one another: “Sure seems you’re getting along well.”
Todd South as Cooper, the supposed mute among the gang in The Five (2023)
Alexis Dubbs as Maria, the young woman who’s become one of the sheriff’s secrets in The Five (2023)
){kind=link}