Sunset of Power: Mostly dust and bad decisions

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for grainy, black-and-white horse operas, sure. It’s a brisk ride. If you need complex character motivations or something that isn't essentially just a series of guys yelling at each other near a hitching post, you might want to skip this one.

Buck Jones is doing the heavy lifting here, and you can tell. He’s got that specific, tired-but-tough look that feels like he’s actually spent a few hours in the sun, not just a makeup chair. It reminds me a bit of the rough-around-the-edges charm found in Western Feuds, though this one feels a bit more hurried.

The plot is... well, it happens.

The whole "marry this guy or else" trope is pretty standard, but the way they handle the rustling side of things is surprisingly messy. Like, the bad guy sends a henchman to take out Cliff Lea, and the goon hits the wrong guy. It’s almost funny how quickly the movie just moves past that. No mourning, no real pause—just right into the kidnapping.

The pacing is aggressive. Sometimes scenes feel like they were cut mid-sentence just to get to the next horse chase. It's not necessarily bad, it just makes the whole thing feel like a fever dream of cowboy cliches. You barely have time to wonder why the granddaughter isn't putting up more of a fight before we're back in the canyon.

• The horses look like they're having a better time than the actors.
• The dialogue is mostly just people stating exactly what they are about to do.
• I swear the same cactus appears in the background of three different states.

There's this one moment where they’re supposed to be hiding out, but the shadows are all wrong. It's bright daylight, yet everyone is whispering like they're in a library. It’s these little weird choices that make me think the director just wanted to go home. 🤠

It’s not as polished as The Governor's Lady, but it has a different kind of energy. It’s sweaty and frantic. Sometimes, that’s all you need on a Tuesday afternoon when you’re tired of modern stuff that takes itself way too seriously.

Don't expect a masterpiece. Expect some guys in hats, a few missed shots, and a plot that resolves itself because it ran out of film. It’s a simple, dusty, perfectly okay way to kill an hour.