Red Hill

Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten) moves to the sleepy rural town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife Alice (Claire van der Boom). It's his first day as a local cop. His new boss Old Bill is dismissive of his new recruit for a previous incident where he failed to shoot. Jimmy Conway escapes from prison after murdering his wife and arrested by Old Bill. Shane stops a car with a scared elderly couple and then confronted by Jimmy Conway. Shane tries to surrender and falls off the cliff.

This has a good gritty western feel. It revels in the brutal violent desolation tones. All of that is great. I have a big problem with one scene when Shane first confronts Jimmy Conway. The Mexican standoff is ridiculous. Shane surrendering to him is also pretty bad although it's playing into the character. This movie needs to start with a violent shootout and this scene is very disappointing. Shane can fall off the cliff as he runs away from Jimmy shooting at him. It's such a badly staged scene that it takes away some of the early intensity. It should have been an exciting action start. Otherwise, I love the style and tone of this movie.