The Silver Bullet: Another dusty ride through the desert

Is it worth your time?

If you have an itch for those black-and-white matinee westerns where the good guys wear white hats and the bad guys have shifty eyes, you’ll probably have a decent afternoon with The Silver Bullet. If you’re looking for complex character arcs or anything that isn't a recycled plot beat from 1935, keep walking. You’ll be bored to tears by the second act.

The whole thing feels like it was filmed on a Sunday when everyone involved just wanted to get home for dinner. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s definitely comfortable in its own predictability.

The Setup

Tom Henderson gets made Sheriff. Why? Because the town of Chico is being run into the ground by Slim Walker’s gang. Of course, the banker is the one pulling the strings. It’s always the guy in the suit, isn't it? It feels like I’ve seen this exact power dynamic in Heritage of the Desert, only with more horses and fewer people complaining about the heat.

Odd Little Moments

There’s this character, Dad Kane. He’s looking for the guy who blinded him. He relies entirely on the guy’s voice to identify him. You just know that moment is going to be the climax, and it is, but it takes forever to get there. The way the actors stand around waiting for the dialogue to finish is kind of funny if you stare at it too long.

• The bank robbery scene is basically just a bunch of guys yelling and running in circles.
• The horses seem to have more personality than the extras.
• I’m pretty sure one of the bandits is just wearing a different hat to hide who he is, but it’s painfully obvious.

Honestly, the pacing is just… strange. One minute they are having a tense standoff, and the next, everyone is just sitting on a porch talking like they’re waiting for a bus. It’s got that same slightly stiff energy I remember from The Cradle Buster. It’s not trying to be high art, and it doesn't pretend to be. It’s just a movie about a guy with a gun and a guy with a bank account.

The dialogue is mostly just instructions. 'Go there.' 'Shoot him.' 'Wait here.' It’s very functional. If you like your movies to get right to the point, this is your winner. If you like subtext, you’re in the wrong place. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a sheriff is just a guy trying to get through the work week without getting shot. 🤠