Oh Brother
A gang of mainly black outlaws reunite when they plan to rob a bank in the back water town of Driscollville which is going to have a lot of money passing through it. But their reasons for robbing the place go deeper than purely greed as they each have had run ins with the local land & business owner Driscoll (David Carradine) and his son Bert (Peter Greene) and now it is pay back time. But with a bounty hunter in the area things are not straight forwards and are going to get very bloody.
Okay I am at a loss for words as I have never comes across a western like "Brothers in Arms" before and I am so conflicted by it that I love and hate it. It is a case of which is more do I love it or hate it more and sadly I think I hate it more. But I do think "Brothers in Arms" could have been good with a few changes from changing the tone to changing the music all would have helped to make it miles better than it is.
Let me describe the opening scene for you as we are taken back to the old west but one where a gang of outlaws ride into town dressed fly with leather coats with large red collars and hats which look like they have never seen sweat. These outlaws also wear leather biker jackets with zips everywhere whilst beneath their chaps are clearly visible modern jeans. It all looks like a hotch potch and I am sure intentionally so especially when I am sure I saw a character walking across the street with a leather parasol. But it is a look which whilst initially amusing me ended up also annoying me.
But it isn't just the look as the story, the characters and everything else about the movie just didn't quite work for me especially when you have everyone playing it dead serious yet if they gone tongue in cheek "Brothers in Arms" could have become one of those rare occurrences where a western comedy works. I could keep going as there is also the hip-hop soundtrack which is meant to be cool but only ends up annoying.
What this all boils down to is that "Brothers in Arms" did entertain me but more often than not it was for what was bad rather than what was good. And sadly when it didn't entertain me by being bad it was too often simply annoying.
