3 out of 5

Director: Earl Bellamy

I know nothing about Westerns. I’m very poorly-schooled in that genre. Against a Crooked Sky is apparently “loosely” based on a John Ford film, so I cannot speak how it holds up to the “classics.” However, for a newbie – I enjoyed it. I felt like this was pretty solid straight-forward entertainment, without getting too steeped in period-piece details or hawk-flying-in-the-sky extended shots. The acting works (the lead kid is very watchable and compelling) and I saw some rather inventive camera work for what would seem to be a not big-budget production. The DVD transfer is totally washed out and the sound is sketchy here and there, but overall this story of “boy tries to find his sister who was kidnapped by Indians” has enough laughter and suspense to keep this wandering-eyed viewer focused. Word of warning, though: I was absolutely surprised by a direction the film took in the last portion, and was ready to rate the movie higher. However, when it sacrificed this point of interest for a “happy” ending, I almost dropped the rating down. (This is super important stuff, I know.) So I settled for the middle.