Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Lou Diamond Phillips is Keenan Deerfield, a former convict looking to settle down and stay out of trouble in a mining town.

But staying out of trouble isn’t going to be easy, especially working for mine owner Samuel Drigger, who rules nearly everything in these here parts.

There’s a pretty young lady (Marina Black as Christine) in need of rescuing from an abusive relationship, with a fellow miner.

There’s a new friend named Eugene Lawson (Ernest Borgnine), an aging rancher who’s trying to hold onto his land in spite of the Driggers’ efforts to buy it from him.

Meddling in the affairs of Christine and Eugene puts Deerfield at odds with both Drigger and his trigger-happy son, Roy.

But Eugene’s willing to help out, and Deerfield also has an ally in Marshal Toll (Lee Majors), who sees something of himself in the young man.

Lou Diamond Phillips as Keenan Deerfield, determined to make up for earlier mistakes in life in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Marina Black as Christina Beckford, keeping an eye out for her abusive boyfriend in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Review:

Perfectly serviceable 21st Century Western at a time when low-budget nonsense is the norm. Unfortunately, it’s also wholly predictable — too predictable to be wholly successful.

Still, Phllips, Majors and Borgnine make for a likeable trio and Black turns in a fine performance as the determined damsel who’s constantly in distress.

Just don’t expect shades of gray, because everyone’s either good of bad in this outing.

Ernest Borgnine as Eugene Lawson, the man who takes on interest in Keenan and Christine in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Lee Majors as Marshal Toll, a man willing to bet Keenan Deerfield can change in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Directed by:
David Cass Sr.

Cast:
Lou Diamond Phillips … Keenan Deerfield
Marina Black … Christine Beckford
Ernest Borgnine … Eugene Lawson
Lee Majors … Marshal Toll
Richard Tyson … Gerald Ruthledge
Warren Stevens … Samuel Drigger
Paul Hewitt … Roy Drigger
Jonathan Murphy … Jack Lester
David Shackleford … A.J. Foster

Runtime: 90 min.

Warren Stevens as Samuel Drigger, a man who controls everything around him in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Richard Tyson as Gerald Ruthledge, Christine’s abusive former lover in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Marshal Toll to Keenan Deerfield as he arrives in town: “At my age, I don’t have much time to waste. I’d hate to think I was wasting it on you, son.”

Eugene Larson: “You got Indian blood.”
Keenan Deerfield: “That a problem?”
Larson, chuckling: “No sir. Makes no difference to me. What matters is the man inside the skin.”

Eugene Larson: “Samuel Drigger’s done just about everything he can to run me off. I always thought he’d just wait for me to up and die. I guess I’m just not goin’ fast enough for him.”

Deerfield: “Man who respects another asks him to do something. Man who disrespects another tells him to do something.”

Paul Hewitt as Roy Drigger, Samuel’s equally controlling son in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Jonathan Murphy as Jack Lester, the miner Keenan Deerfield befriends in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Spencer Redford as Charmane Stough, the girl Jack wants to impress in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Casey Sander as Richard Johnson, one of Samuel Drigger’s henchmen in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

David Shackleford as A.J. Foster, the former partner who tries to lure Deerfield back into the outlaw ways in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Ernest Borgnine as Eugene Lawson, making a point with Samuel Drigger in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Marina Black as Christine Beckford, the abused woman in need of being rescued by The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)

Lou Diamond Phillips as Keenan Deerfield, trying to avoid landing in trouble again in The Trail to Hope Rose (2004)