Quick Links
Billed asNicolas Cage’sfirst traditional western,The Old Way, which is now available to stream on Hulu, got a bad rap when it premiered in 2023. Currently sitting at 32% on Rotten Tomatoes,the critics called it"bland," “uncompelling,” “perfunctory,” and “a half-baked mistake.” But there’s a lot to love about this Western, and the 70% of fans who gave it a thumbs-up on Rotten Tomatoes have the right idea.
Though this is a simplewestern with few surprises,The Old Wayhas its merits. For example, the relationship between Cage’s Colton Briggs and his daughter Brooke is interesting and well-acted, especially on the part of the actress who plays Brooke, Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Plus, the examination of neurodivergence is unexpected in a movie that takes place before such a thing even had a name. Let’s take a closer look atThe Old Way.
What Is The Old Way About?
The Old Way
The Old Waystarts with an attempted hanging. But when the brother, Walter McCallister, of the man set to hang, Robert McCallister, violently frees Robert, Walter is shot dead by Colton Briggs, a man who seems unmoved by the entire proceeding. An enraged Robert threatens Colton with a shotgun and Colton, who’s about to leave town, shoots him dead, leaving his young son, James (Everett Blunck), to grieve.
The movie flashes forward 20 years and Colton is a changed man. He is married to Ruth (Kerry Knuppe), has a preteen daughter, Brooke, and has put his gunslinging ways behind him in favor of running a general store. Then a strange man comes with his posse to Colton’s house and brutally kills his wife. It turns out, this isJames McCallister (Noah Le Gros), the young boy whose father Colton killed in the prologue, and he’sback for revenge.
Colton and Brooke arrive at the house after McCallister and his men have fled, to find Marshall Jarrett (Nick Searcy) and his men there. Jarrett explains what happened and tells Colton, whom he knows from his past as a hired gun, that he can’t come with them as they chase the bad guys. Colton doesn’t listen though, and because he can’t quite bring himself to kill Brooke, he brings her with him.The rest of the movie centers on Colton and Brooke’s commitment to finding and killing the men — and the bonds they start to build with one another along the way.
The Old Way Does a Great Job of Showcasing the New Ways
One of the great things aboutThe Old Wayis that, though Colton comes from the old, lawless ways that don’t factor in things like jail time and trials, those ways have changed in the 20 years since he’s been out of the game. It seems that the world is now kinder and gentler. People no longermurder someone because they look at themthe wrong way. Instead, they leave difficult matters to the Marshall and his men.
Colton, of course, isn’t okay with letting the Marshall take over his wife’s case and takes it upon himself to catch up to McCallister and his gang himself, but he also catches up with the Marshall. He ties him and his men up so they can’t follow him, and leave them in a canyon so he won’t be disturbed as he goes after McCallister. So,the old way triumphs over the new ways, at least for Colton Briggs. This sets up an interesting dynamic between not just Colton and McCallister but between Colton and the Marshall too.
15 Revisionist Westerns That Will Make You Change Your Mind About Cowboys
The era of good cowboys and bad Native Americans came to an end when revisionist Westerns broke with this black-and-white morality.
Colton and Brooke Are Neurodivergent
However, the best thing aboutThe Old Wayis that Colton and his daughter are different in a way that’s somewhat familiar now, but at the time the movie takes place, it was quite literally unheard of. Colton makes this particularly apparent during a fireside chat with Brooke. He tells her from the time he was a child, he never felt fear the way other people do. The only thing he ever feared was his wife’s death because she was the only thing he ever loved.Colton is clearly neurodivergent, likelyon the autism spectrum, and his daughter is too.
Director Explains the Surprising Truth About Why He Called Nicolas Cage’s Villain Longlegs
The director Oz Perkins has finally revealed why Longlegs was given his creepy name.
Brooke has shown us this multiple times. For example, when she divides the jelly beans in her father’s store by color or when she perfectly recites a customer’s story about his mother’s pie days later. And during their talk by the fire, she confesses to her father that she didn’t feel anything when her mother died. While Colton presses Brooke about pretending to be like other, normal people, he understands her too, andhe teaches her what she needs to know to take care of herself.
Whilemany complained about Cage’s lack of emotion inThe Old Way, that’s part of the point of the story. Cage doesn’t emote because his character wouldn’t. While screenwriter Carl W. Lucas and director Brett Donowho don’t hit this point as hard as they could, the topic is still unique and adds a jolt to the story. Cage and Armstrong are fantastic together, as a father and daughter who finally come together under extreme circumstances, and their chemistry manages to carryThe Old Waythrough some of its more questionable moments.
