Two brothers – Wyatt (James Ransone) and Samuel (Josh Peck) – head off into the Alaskan wilderness to bring back their father Jebediah, who’s been accused of murdering his comrades after they discovered gold in The Timber.
Samuel is determined to bring his father back alive, stand him up in front of his mother and make Jebediah explain why he abandoned his family. Samuel now has a wife named Lisa and a son of his own that he’s left behind to embark on this journey into a snowy wilderness.
Wyatt isn’t so sure if wouldn’t be better to kill Jebediah on the spot. And he’s got a very practical reason for tracking down his father. There’s a reward on Jebediah’s head, and that reward will be enough to stave off foreclosure on the family’s home.
But that snowy wilderness is filled with men turned into savages by the harsh terrain and their lust for gold. Before long, one companion is dead, the brothers have lost all three of their horses and nearly all their supplies. And Samuel is ready to turn back.
Josh Peck as Samuel, realizing he’s found the long-lost father he’s been seeking in The Timber (2015)
James Ransone as Wyatt, in a disagreement with Col. Rupert Thomas in The Timber (2015)
Review:
A film that could have been better if the plot was a little less muddled, if the violence didn’t seem so outrageous – there’s a man in a bear suit who captures humans and eats them – and if the cast wasn’t filled with so many deranged and blood-thirsty characters.
Jebediah is supposed to be running a gold camp, but he’s living far removed from it, in a teepee? And how does he know his sons are coming to get him, as he apparently does?
While the brothers are engaged in their journey, back home we learn there’s another villain of the piece – a man who stands to get rich if he can just get his hands on the brothers’ ranch.
The film was shot in Romania and stands out from most Westerns because of its snow-filled scenery.
William Gaunt as Jebediah, sought by the sons he abandoned in The Timber (2015)
David Bailie as Sheriff Snow, suspecting Wyatt of killing a prospector for his gold in The Timber (2015)
Directed by:
Anthony O’Brien
Cast:
James Ransone … Wyatt
Josh Peck … Samuel
Mark Caven … Col. Rupert Thomas
Attila Arpa … Patrick the Bear
Shaun O’Hagan … Jim Broadswell
Elisa Lasowski … Lisa
Maria Doyle Kennedy … Maggie
William Gaunt … Jebediah
Julian Glover .. . Howell (the banker)
David Bailie … Sheriff Snow
Runtime: 81 min.
Elisa Lasowski as Lisa, Samuel’s wife, ready to defend their homestead with guns if necessary in The Timber (2015)
Maria Doyle Kennedy as Maggie, the woman abandoned by a man who ran off for the Alaska gold fields in The Timber (2015)
Memorable lines:
Wyatt, finding a mountain man missing an eye and a tongue: “No ordinary type of evil would turn a mountain of man like him into mush.”
Samuel: “Maybe Jebediah was trying to shut him up.”
Wyatt: “Well, if that was the goal, either by Jebediah’s hand or another, I’d call this a grand success.”
Col. Thomas: “You sense it too?”
Wyatt: “What’s that?”
Col. Thomas: “Our demise.”
Wyatt: “I used to think it was gold that turned men bad. I’m starting to think they was just that way to begin with.”
Wyatt, realizing he’s out of bullets: “We’ve got one knife between the two of us. We could have come better equipped is all I’m sayin’.”
Julian Glover as Howell (right), the banker who assigns Col. Rupert Thomas (Mark Craven) to accompany the brothers in The Timber (2015)
Mihai Verbitchi as Percival Hawkins, the man who’s has his tongue cut out in The Timber (2015)
James Ransone as Wyatt, realizing he and his brother has one knife between them for defense in The Timber (2015)
Josh Peck as Samuel, ready to embark on a mission to bring his father to justice in The Timber (2015)
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