Shadow on the Mesa (2013) Wes Brown, Kevin Sorbo, Gail O'Grady, Shannon Lucio, Dave Florek, Micah Alberti, Greg Evigan, Barry Corbin, Meredith Baxter Movie Review

Shadow on the Mesa (2013)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Wes Brown as Wes Rawlins in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

Love Finds His Father

Bounty hunter Wes Rawlins (Wes Brown - Love Begins) returns home to discover his mother has been killed and learns from his grand-parents the truth that the father he has never known, and thought was dead, is still alive and may be connected to her death. Setting off to find his father, Ray Eastman (Kevin Sorbo - The Santa Suit), Wesfinds himself in the midst of a feud between Eastman and local land owner Peter Dowdy (Greg Evigan - Metal Tornado) who is trying to force Ray to sell up and is in cahoots with Ray's wife Mona (Gail O'Grady - After the Fall) to get him to leave the land. Realising that his father is innocent and didn't even know that he had a son let alone that his mum was still alive, believing she died many years earlier, Wes helps his father defend his land from Dowdy and his henchmen.

You can sum up "Shadow on the Mesa" by saying that someone who has watched a lot of westerns has cherry picked ideas and characters in order to create this story whilst adding a couple of modern touches to it. So those cherry picked ideas come with the unoriginal land battle as Pete Dowdy is trying to get Ray to sell up and leave using his own corrupt sons to put pressure on him. Alongside this we also have Ray's wife Mona, who is not a ranch woman, being in cahoots with Dowdy because she would prefer to move back to the city with Ray and their children. The two are worked together quite nicely with Mona being deceptive and a woman who will manipulate people to get what she wants. But if you know your westerns you will end up thinking back to earlier westerns which used the same ideas.

Kevin Sorbo as Ray Eastman in Shadow on the Mesa (2013)

There is the more original element, the more modern idea of Wes discovering his father is still alive and tracking him down. It is shall we say the more melodramatic side as it naturally leads to some emotional scenes as Ray discovers the woman he loved had not died when he thought and that he has a son he never knew about. But that it is not the only melodrama and like other modern made for TV westerns the general tone of "Shadow on the Mesa" is more romantic melodrama than gritty western. This is where if you like your westerns dirty and gritty you will end up spitting feathers because everything is beautiful especially the framing of camera shots which often linger on Wes as he stares down the barrel of his gun. But in fairness it is on par with other more recent made for TV westerns and if you enjoy these movies you will certainly enjoy this.

The acting is also on par with other recent made for TV westerns which is not such a huge shock seeing that both Wes Brown and Kevin Sorbo have appeared in a few of these easy going westerns. They're not bad performances for the tone of the movie and to be honest both Sorbo and Brown are well cast for their characters. In fairness all the actors from Barry Corbin as Wes's Grandpa Jake to Shannon Lucio as his half sister Rosalie are well cast because they fit with the style of the movie.

What this all boils down to is that "Shadow on the Mesa" is a very typical modern made for TV western which mixes old story ideas with a melodramatic tone. It is not a great western but if you enjoy these modern TV takes on a western it will entertain.


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