Western fans have better choices than 'American Outlaws?

"American Outlaws"

Directed by: Les Mayfield

Starring: Colin Farrell, Gabriel Macht, Scott Caan, Ali Larter

Rated: PG-13

There was a time in Hollywood when, as much as any other type of film, the Western was important for its social commentary and examination of the human condition of the times.

Steven Spielberg considers John Ford's 1956 Western, "The Searchers," to be one of the best films ever made. America in the 50s and early 60s was in love with the Western genre.

There were more Western-themed TV shows in that time than there are "reality" shows or "Millionaire" rip-offs running today.

Not all Westerns were of the caliber of a John Ford or Howard Hawks film. For every "Shane" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," there were a dozen "B" Westerns with titles like "Ridin' on a Rainbow" and "Battling Marshall."

And don't forget the sub "B" films such as "Jesse James Meets Frank-enstein's Daughter" or the classic all-midget Western, "The Terror of Tiny Town."

Yes, the Western movie has a deep, rich heritage.

Of late, however, the genre has all but dropped off the map. Occasionally a modern classic will come along. Clint Eastwood starred in and directed 1992's "Unforgiven," winning both critical and box office acclaim, and Arthur Hill's take on the James-Younger gang, "The Long Riders," took a gritty look at these legendary outlaws.

More recently though, filmmakers have merely tried to cash in on current pop culture trends, as was the case with the 1988 Brat Pack vehicle "Young Guns," and its equally bad sequel two years later.

This year's model, wherein the James-Younger gang takes on all the attributes of N'Sync or the Backstreet Boys, is Les Mayfield's completely fantasized ac-count of history, "American Outlaws." Had he not chosen to use historical figures household names already legendary in stature he would have gotten closer to pulling off this pap, but one assumes the producers wanted the name recognition afforded them by Jesse and Frank James and their cousins, the Younger brothers.

Some of the scenes are based on fact. Yes, the James brothers did fight in the Civil War, and yes, they robbed banks. Beyond these two incidents, "American Outlaws" is pure fantasy.

As the Civil War comes to an end, the James and Younger boys head back to their homesteads in Liberty, Mo., only to find the town awash in seedy railroad executives trying to force the local ranchers off their land. When folks refuse to sell, a good old fashioned hanging is used to sway the masses. When this fails to do the trick, bombs and fires are not far behind.

Incensed by the murder of their ma and destruction of their farm, Jesse and his Shakespeare-spouting, know-it-all brother Frank take to the outlaw life with their cousins the Youngers and various and sundry tag-alongs.

Typical dialogue revolves around the struggle for control (well, top billing anyway) of the gang between Jesse James and Cole Younger.

"Why can't we be the Younger-James gang?" Cole asks. Then his brother points out it would lead to confusion as folks would wonder where the older James gang might be.

No outlaws this good-looking could ever escape a love plot, and indeed one does surface in the form of cover-girl beautiful (I don't think dentistry and orthodontics had developed far enough in the 1860s for these people to have such dazzling smiles ...) Zee Mimms, whom Jesse falls for like a bag of gold nuggets. There was a Zee Mimms in real life, but the film never mentions she was actually Jesse's first cousin.

The plot plays out as one would expect and even has the wryest of Hollywood happy endings, another historical fantasy.

There's an audience for "American Outlaws," I guess, in the pre-teen/young teen market that supports the likes of Britney Spears and the countless "boy bands" coming and going nowadays.

But for anyone interested in a real Western, I'd suggest a trip to the video store to check out some of these titles (as well as those mentioned above): "The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid," (another take on the James-Younger legend) "The Wild Bunch," "One Eyed Jacks," "Bad Company," "El Dorado," "The Grey Fox," "High Noon," "The Magnificent Seven," "Once Upon a Time In the West," "Hombre," "The Ox-Bow Incident," "Rio Bravo" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)