The Old Way (2023)

At the rate Nicolas Cage churns out movies, it’s surprising to think that he’s never been in a Western before. But here we are in 2023 and I’ve just watched his first appearance in the genre: The Old Way. It’s an interesting turn for Cage.

The plot isn’t anything we haven’t seen before in a Western. It’s pretty much a by-the-numbers revenge picture. Cage plays Colton Briggs, a former gunslinger who’s recently been domesticated. He shares a home with his wife, Ruth (Kerry Knuppe,) and 12 year-old daughter, Brooke (Ryan Kiera Armstrong.) When an outlaw gang with a past connection to Colton arrives at the house while Ruth is alone, bad things happen.

Colton returns home and finds a U.S. Marshal on his porch. He’s informed that Ruth has been murdered. Colton vows to kill the men responsible and takes his daughter along for the ride, much to the chagrin of the marshal. And to the surprise of his daughter, who’s never seen him even hold a gun.

What separates The Old Way from a hundred other movies in the same mold are the performances of Cage and Armstrong. The pair share an oddball chemistry that works and Carl W. Lucas’ script gives them the best lines in the film. Cage pulls back on the reins of his trademark outrageousness and delivers a rather stoic turn as the former cold-blooded killer turned family man. Armstrong proves to be more than just a cute kid. She’s funny, witty, and shares some solid scenes with Cage and Noah Le Gros, who plays the lead outlaw. In fact, her character is the focal point of a number of dialogue-heavy scenes. She handles all of them with skill.

The Old Way looks very much like it was shot on a restricted budget but it never feels cheap. The sets, while sparse, look more robust and detailed than those found in recent B-movie Westerns like Once Upon a Time in Deadwood and Eminence Hill. Supporting roles from Abraham Benrubi (TV’s ER), Clint Howard (Apollo 13), and Nick Searcy (The Shape of Water) add some recognizable (if not immediately so) faces to the mix.

Fans of gunplay and grit should know that this is a movie that runs more on character development than your standard shoot ’em up. It doesn’t hold a candle to Unforgiven or True Grit (either version), but it sure is a hoot to see Cage saddle up.