This film’s pretty interesting in how it feels like it turns into a completely different film as soon as the main characters leave town. At first it seemed like more of a personal drama with a bunch of hooligans messing things up and having to be thrown out soon. Instead we get more of a survival film. I do have to admit that the first part seemed a little more interesting but it also could have backfired pretty badly with the romance so maybe this was the right move. It can drag a little but I wouldn’t call it a bad film.

The movie starts off with two strangers wandering into town. One is a nice old guy named Doc and the other is someone who likes music named Gus but keeps on changing his backstory. Still they’re harmless enough and this town is a very friendly one where everyone is invited to enjoy the festivities. It’s all going well until a third guy walks into the room, Bob. Bob was kicked out of the town years ago for generally being a big delinquent and nobody is happy to see him. He doesn’t seem happy to be here either but mainly returned to get some drinks and hook up with different people. One of the girls he liked is getting married though so he lost out.

He tries to play some mind games on her but ultimately it doesn’t work. So he robs the place with Doc and Gus as they run out of there. These hardened criminals won’t stop for anything…except a baby that they come across. His mother dies from being stuck in the desert for so long so now these three have to help the baby. Can they do it though? Bob is heavily against this and figures they should leave the baby to die while Doc in particular wants to help him. This could end up sealing his fate but ultimately he risks it all to make the right decision. Will they survive?

It’s always tricky when you have a film focusing around a bunch of villains because you have to be careful not to write them to be too evil or it’ll just be annoying for the viewers to see them the whole time. Alternately you don’t want to be halfhearted about the whole thing or then there was no point to the plot in general. Doc and Gus mostly hit that proper medium but Bob is mean enough where the redemption arc doesn’t work as well for him. There were several times he was going to leave the baby to fend for himself and certainly didn’t help much in trying to preserve everyones’ lives. He’s the kind of guy who is in it for himself all the way through.

Even back at home his poor reputation was well deserved. He’s clearly the kind of guy who has commitment issues and lies as he breathes. The guy really does everything possible to be a super antagonist the whole time. The characters should have definitely kicked him out again. Sure they were definitely scared but they had the numbers advantage there. The guy was also threatening the fiancé of one guy who just didn’t do much about it. It is a shame that the film pretty much confirms that the girl did still like Bob and basically settled with the nice guy for marriage. That always seems like one of the most tragic things where the guy is super happy because the girl finally said yes to marrying him and yet she only did it because there were no better options. That’s enough to traumatize someone.

Again, the film really shifts gears when the main characters leave the town though so these plots don’t actually get followed up nor do the characters appear much from this point. It’s glossed over a bit though in how Bob does shoot someone before leaving. You’d think he would have been shot on sight or taken down as soon as the baby was secure. He’s not exactly just a guy who’s down on his luck, he’s a hardened killer.

Meanwhile Doc and Gus share some guilt by association. They are stealing money from a town that absolutely could have used it and they are doing this for their own selfish ideals. Gus and Doc may be nicer people in general and have some kind of moral compass but it doesn’t take away from the fact that they are villains and it’s important to keep that in mind the whole time. Because if you forget it then that does a disservice to their victims.

It’s great that they wanted to help out the baby, it just doesn’t take away from the rest of their actions. On the topic of the baby though, that’s where the film starts to drag on a bit. It turns out that the rest of the film is all about escorting the baby through the desert. That means there is not much variety in the backgrounds and the heroes have to move very slowly since they are basically dying of hunter and thirst by the end. It’s not the most engaging watch as a result because you want things to move a whole lot quicker.

The writing is solid enough with a lot of good dialogue but the film just doesn’t make much progress at all. It feels like you could easily cut out 20-30 minutes from the film and you would be set. Viewers who really like the desert or appreciate a slow burn will probably enjoy it but it’s all a bit overdone for me. Even considering that the film’s length isn’t even all that long on its own. No this was definitely that could have been changed a bit. There’s just not much to find interesting about some people carrying a baby through the desert without some kind of sub plot or the event being that enormous that it warrants such a long detailed amount of screentime.

Overall, This is a film where almost all of it is about walking through the desert. It’s played fairly serious so there’s not a whole lot of banter or anything like that to take your mind off of things. It’s a solidly written movie but the only main negative is that it can be a little boring and that’s a big blow for any film. You always want to be exciting or at least super entertaining throughout your whole run. If not then it feels like something really went wrong. Having this take place in the city or something would have been better or maybe just more fight scenes. This was definitely way more adventure than action after all. Or just have the heroes make it to a town where they have to fight off the locals to get the bay some medical attention, now there would be a climax and you’d have all 3 make it there, but two would die during the fight so there’s just one man left standing.

Overall 5/10