The Highwayman

Normally I would give a film like this a 1, but because this is such a low budget affair, I gave it one extra 1.

Poorly acted written and directed, I cannot find much to recommend it to to the discerning viewer.

So here's the thing, it's really hard to get a proper read on the seriousness of the film, the best one word I can use to describe this film is soulless, and I won't sugar-coat it: The Highwayman: The Legend of Dick Turpin is so laughable it's extraordinarily bad.

To be fair, the story itself isn't always the issue. There's a vaguely romantic subplot between Turpin and the Earl's daughter that's clearly intended to add depth and tension, but it's hard to invest in when everything around it is so poorly executed. The acting is awful, and bizarre at times.

The performances are delivered with such an odd seriousness that you keep waiting for an over-the-top punchline or some comedy to kick in which it never does.

The storytelling is cheesy, the facial expressions are unintentionally hilarious, the villian is mockingly like a cartoon, and the whole thing feels like it's walking a strange line between parody and sincerity, but without committing to either. I don't like to hate on films too harshly, but after the initial fight scene in the woods at the very beginning, it was painfully clear what kind of ride we were in for.

I could understand this being a school project or amateur indie effort, but how this was funded as a feature-length film, I'll never know.

1/10.

The fun starts in the opening scene. The Highwayman hero, brandishing a flintlock pistol, stands in the road as a coach approaches. As the coach comes into view, the highwayman fires his pistol into the air (a warning shot, no doubt) then he points the pistol at the coach and demands, "Your money or your life!" He has already spent his load! 18th century flintlocks were not repeating firearms. What kind of highwayman threatens a victim with an empty gun? THIS kind of nonsensically written, low-budget, poorly acted highwayman is the kind of hero that almost entertains in this shoddy piece of almost funny escapism.

The film makers try hard but just do not achieve Ed Wood standards of humor. The sets are a bit too tidy, and the actors lack that sense of devotion to the material despite the odds that could have made this a true gem, like say, Beretta's Island. Rather, it just muddles along, content with its own mediocrity, failing to rise to the genuine entertainment of a truly bad movie.

I'm not sure what age group this was made for, but I think maybe it's more for 14 year old girls rather than adults.

The story is kind of pointless. The actions of the characters (especially Elizabeth) are just annoying, and the acting is pretty poor.

You have an obnoxious female character, a pretty useless highwayman, and a villain who is kind of over the top evil. It was predictable and nothing new. The whole thing didn't work for me.

I watched it as it was rated over 7, but IMDB is just so full of fake reviews and ratings these days that the rating doesn't really mean much anymore.

This is definitely not a 9 or 10 star movie, unless you are buddies with he director or one of the main actors.

I wouldn't bother with this one.

Writer and director Steve Lawson produces a rare light-hearted film from his growing stable. Known for slim-budget, mainly studio-bound, dialogue-heavy productions, there is more location work and physical stuff going on here. As with most of his output, I found this very enjoyable.

Morgan Rees-Davies plays Turpin, here revealed as a scoundrel and trouble-maker, and not a very successful highwayman. The books about him, he admits happily, are heavily exaggerated. The hapless Elizabeth (Mollie Hindle) finds this out to her cost, her initial dislike of him inevitably melting as the film goes on.

This is a nicely paced adventure, not quite the bawdy romp it might have been, although lines like "I'm looking for Dick," and "Yes, I'll bet you are," ensure we're never encouraged to take things too seriously. My score is 7 out of 10.