Tobey (Waylon Jennings), is killed off in the first scene of this half-baked western. He is the lucky one. His son, Bryce (Chad Willett), decides to take revenge on Tobey's killer, a former member of Jennings' outlaw gang. Bryce is joined by two other former outlaw gang members- Torrance (Kris Kristofferson) and Walker (Willie Nelson), making like Abbott and Costello, and they ride after the bland villain, taking poor Dalton (Travis Tritt), a third gang member.
Nelson and Kristofferson do the same old TV western movie routine they had been doing for years- flat delivery, down-home humorous bickering, and goofy grins. Tritt tries what he can, relying on the acting chops he earned in his music videos. He has onscreen charisma, it would be interesting to see what a professional director might mold with him. Willett, probably the only real actor here, is okay. After getting killed, Jennings does what he does best- voiceover, as Bryce reads Tobey's diary. The Unmagnificent Four get involved in non-threatening scrapes here and there on their way to meet the villain. They are held up, but get their stuff back with the help of some friendly Indigenous Peoples. Bryce finds romance, because if you are young and cute in a western, you must fall in love. Of course, that philosophy does not explain how Nelson manages to do the same thing. He falls for a local senorita in a town where the villain burned down the church, and the happy outlaws help rebuild in some saccharine scenes. The actual climactic shootout is dull, thanks to the bland direction. At one point, Bryce has a perfect opportunity to finish the villain off, thereby sparing Mexico and the audience from further torture, but he does not. The added "mystery" about the true identity of Bryce's real father is never resolved, either. "Outlaw Justice," also known as "The Long Kill," is an injustice.
Nelson and Kristofferson do the same old TV western movie routine they had been doing for years- flat delivery, down-home humorous bickering, and goofy grins. Tritt tries what he can, relying on the acting chops he earned in his music videos. He has onscreen charisma, it would be interesting to see what a professional director might mold with him. Willett, probably the only real actor here, is okay. After getting killed, Jennings does what he does best- voiceover, as Bryce reads Tobey's diary. The Unmagnificent Four get involved in non-threatening scrapes here and there on their way to meet the villain. They are held up, but get their stuff back with the help of some friendly Indigenous Peoples. Bryce finds romance, because if you are young and cute in a western, you must fall in love. Of course, that philosophy does not explain how Nelson manages to do the same thing. He falls for a local senorita in a town where the villain burned down the church, and the happy outlaws help rebuild in some saccharine scenes. The actual climactic shootout is dull, thanks to the bland direction. At one point, Bryce has a perfect opportunity to finish the villain off, thereby sparing Mexico and the audience from further torture, but he does not. The added "mystery" about the true identity of Bryce's real father is never resolved, either. "Outlaw Justice," also known as "The Long Kill," is an injustice.