It was billed as Nicolas Cage First traditional western, The old wayThe film, which is now available to stream on Hulu, received a poor reputation when it first came out in 2023. It currently has a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it “boring,” “unconvincing,” “average,” and “a misstep.” But there’s plenty to like about this Western, and the 70% of fans who gave it a thumbs up on Rotten Tomatoes have the right idea.
Although this is a simple western with few surprises, The old way The film has its merits. For example, the relationship between Cage’s Colton Briggs and his daughter Brooke is interesting and well-acted, especially by the actress who plays Brooke, Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Plus, the examination of neurodivergence is unexpected in a film set before such a thing had a name. Let’s take a closer look. The old way.
What is the old way?
The old way The film begins with an attempted hanging. But when the brother of the man scheduled to be executed, Robert McCallister, violently frees Robert, Walter is shot and killed by Colton Briggs, a man who seems unfazed by the entire proceeding. An enraged Robert threatens Colton with a gun, and Colton shoots him just as he is about to leave town, leaving his young son James (Everett Blank) to grieve.
The film jumps forward 20 years, and Colton has changed. He is married to Ruth (Kerry Kenobi), has a teenage daughter, Brooke, and has left his gun-toting ways behind in favor of running a general store. Then a strange man and his buddies arrive at Colton's house and brutally murder his wife. This turns out to be the reason behind Colton's death. James McCallister (Noah Le Gros), the young boy whose father Colton killed in the prologue, has returned for revenge..
Colton and Brooke arrive home after McCallister and his men escape, only to find Marshall Garrett (Nick Searcy) and his men there. Garrett explains what happened and tells Colton, who he knows from his past as a hired gun, that he can't go with them while they hunt down the bad guys. But Colton doesn't listen, and since he can't bring himself to kill Brooke, he brings her with him. The rest of the film focuses on Colton and Brooke's commitment to finding and killing the men – and the bonds they begin to build with each other along the way..
The old way does a great job of showing the new ways.
One of the great things about The old way What's surprising here is that Colton, though he belongs to the old outlaw ways that don't take into account things like prison and trials, has changed in the twenty years since he left the game. The world seems to be kinder and gentler now. People no longer kill someone because they look at them the wrong way. Instead, they leave the hard stuff to the marshal and his men.
Of course, Colton wasn't content to let the marshal handle his wife's case, and took it upon himself to track down McAllister and his gang, but he also managed to catch up with the marshal. He tied him up and his men up so they couldn't track him down, and left them in a valley so that no one would bother him while he was chasing McAllister. So, Old style triumphs over new styles, at least for Colton Briggs. This creates an interesting dynamic not only between Colton and McAllister but also between Colton and the Marshall..
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Colton and Brooke are neurologically different.
However, the best thing about The old way Colton and his daughter are different in a way that is somewhat familiar now, but at the time of the film, it was literally unprecedented. Colton makes this clear in particular during a fireside conversation with Brooke. He tells her that since he was a child, he has never felt fear the way other people do. The only thing he has ever been afraid of is his wife dying because she was the only thing he had ever loved. Colton clearly has a neurological disorder, likely autism, and his daughter has a severe psychological disorder..
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Brooke has shown us this many times. For example, when she divides the jelly beans at her father’s store by color or when she tells a customer a story about his mother’s pie days later. As they chat by the fire, she confesses to her father that she didn’t feel anything when her mother died. While Colton pressures Brooke to pretend to be like other normal people, he also understands her, and tries to convince her that she isn’t. Teaches her what she needs to know to take care of herself..
while Many have complained about Cage's lack of emotion in The old wayThis is part of the point of the story.Cage doesn’t show emotion because his character wouldn’t. While screenwriter Carl W. Lucas and director Brett Donohue don’t delve into this as much as they could, it’s still a unique theme and adds a powerful punch to the story. Cage and Armstrong give great performances together as father and daughter finally reunited under dire circumstances, and their chemistry carries the film into the cinematic realm. The old way Through some of its most questionable moments.
