I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Expected more

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Brothers Frank James (Gabriel Macht) and Jesse James (Collin Farrell) return home after the war with their confederate friends Cole Younger (Scott Caan) and his brothers. Jesse finds Zee Mimms (Ali Larter) all grown up. Railroad baron Thaddeus Rains (Harris Yulin) and his muscle Allan Pinkerton (Timothy Dalton) are forcing local landowners to sell their land cheap. They have the Army on their side. The boys form the James Younger gang to rob trains in revenge.The problem starts with Jesse James letting the young Union soldier escape in the heat of a savage battle. Next we're introduced to Zee with Ali Larter doing a hair flip like a model doing a shampoo commercial. Finally, Farrell and Caan are shirtless and spritz down with water. It's ten minutes in and I want to give up. It's trying to be Young Guns but it's nowhere near as fun. Estevez understood the idea and played up the camp. Farrell may not understand that this is not a serious movie. I don't think anybody sees it except possibly Caan. Even as camp, the actors are way too pretty. It's frustrating.

Funny... this film tells us the tale of an outlaw called Jesse James... but it doesn't bear any resemblance to the Jesse I'm familiar with. This Jesse is a hero of the people... he only steals from those who can afford it, uses violence sparingly in self-defense and can get out of ANY life-or-death situation... No matter how against the odds it is.What sets the tone is the opening sequence where, in a suicidal gambit, he rides directly in front of dozens of soldiers AND a gatling gun... just to distract them long enough so his friends can get away. In real life this would lead to instant death 10 times outta 10... but here he escapes with just a little nick. I don't care how much inspirational music and slow-mo you attach to scenes like this, (and there's quite a few) they feel like you're watching a cartoon. Serious Western fans should have a fit.So, we've already established that JJ is a FINE young man. He loves his Mama, wants to settle down with a good wife and is nigh-on indestructible. The gang he leads is mostly full of drunkards, try-hards and idiots... NOTHING can compare to the demi-god that is our Jesse. In fact, was the entire production bankrolled by his ancestors? I demand an investigation. NOW.Another interesting development is that almost every baddie has a moustache or a beard, where the goodies are mostly as smooth as a baby's bottom. Now, I dislike facial hair as much as the next dude... but isn't that a little... beardist? If you wanna avoid getting killed in this town, just invest in a razor. Simples.By the end, when Jesse James has survived (Of course) because his missus has blown up a train he was being held prisoner on, and loads and LOADS of men on horseback have appeared from nowhere to save the day (hope those extras got paid well), it was all I could do to stop myself from throwing my hands to the sky. In a film full of improbabilities and impossibilities this didn't just take the cake, but also emptied the entire dessert trolley.It isn't a boring film, but one stuffed with so many illogical moments and no imagination directing, the experience feels more like a cheap imitation of how a Western should be. Finally, if you're doing an exam on this period in history, don't bother trying to derive any knowledge from American Outlaws. You're likely to be the recipient of a nice juicy F, and have a seat reserved for you at the back of the class. Wearing a cap with D on it. You have been warned... 5/10

I know Jesse James was no hero. I remember how Bobby Brady had to be convinced by everyone's kindly old grandfather Burt Mustin. And in a nightmare, a good-looking charmer had a deadly finger.Well, Colin Farrell is also a good-looking charmer, more like Uncle Jesse Katsopolis than a wanted criminal. He doesn't kill a single person in this movie, and he is never anything other than polite, with only the best of intentions. Take from the rich and give to the poor, and let people know what could happen if they didn't. It was the Youngers who were evil and scary, and if Jesse and Frank ever go straight we're all in trouble.And once the James boys and the Youngers start their crime spree, this movie quickly turns into wacky comedy. It's a lot of fun.Yes, if only those railroad barons hadn't been so ruthless, the James boys and the Youngers could have been decent farmers who led simple lives.The James brothers were raised right, and Kathy Bates gives a fine yet brief performance as a devoted Christian with a gun who wasn't afraid to use it. It was only the first of two performances by her I saw the same day, and this one may have been slightly better.In addition to being a charmer, Jesse is also an action hero with amazing abilities. Only in the movies! There's no way, especially on a Civil War battlefield. But it is fun to watch anyway.And Ali Larter is beautiful, from the very first time she turns around to show that gorgeous smile. But not merely gorgeous. She has brains too. Who knew that right after the Civil war a woman could be treated almost as an equal by tough hombres?Timothy Dalton stands out as the evil yet strangely likable Alan Pinkerton, the ruthless villain of the movie. Yes, this movie turns morals upside down and makes the hero into the villain. But after all, we're not rooting for those rich railroad tycoons.I do have two minor issues with this movie. I don't care for high-tech music to begin with, but in a Western? Music that won't be written for one hundred years by ZZ Top ("Shanghai Noon") fits, while Moby most certainly doesn't. The live music performed for a dance was good but may also have been ahead of its time.I noticed at the end this movie was called fiction and no one depicted should be assumed to be based on anyone real. I get that now. This was not how it happened.But it's fun to watch anyway.

As westerns go, "American Outlaws" amounts to an above-average horse opera that knows when to giddy-yap and when to giddy-up. Les Mayfield, who directed "Flubber" and "Blue Streak," stages several exhilarating but bloodless gunfights that owe their epic grandeur to Hong Kong action maestro John Woo of "Face/Off" fame as much as traditional cowboy classics like Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales." While this blatantly romanticized account of the notorious Jesse James-Cole Younger gang lacks the authenticity of either "The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid" (1972) or "The Long Riders" (1980), Mayfield keeps the action going at a gallop. Moreover, writers Roderick Taylor and John Rogers have juggled the chronological order of events to heighten dramatic impact. Clearly, "American Outlaws" duplicates the surefire "Young Guns" formula, portraying Jesse as a saintly Robin Hood bandit. While Irish heartthrob Colin Farrell resembles actor Tyrone Power, who starred as Jesse James in the prototypical 1939 Technicolor version "Jesse James," he looks nothing like the real-life Jesse Woodson James. Nevertheless,western aficionados should applaud the way that Mayfield has kept the conventions of the genre intact while adding enough fresh touches to enhance this superficial but stimulating shoot'em-up."American Outlaws" covers the early years of James-Younger gang. The upbeat Taylor & Rogers script doesn't depict the tragic demise Jesse met at the hands of the double-crossing sidewinder who bushwhacked him for the bounty. This flavorful variation unfolds as the Civil War concludes. Federal troops have pinned down Frank James (Gabriel Macht of "Simply Irresistible"), Cole Younger (Scott Caan of "Varsity Blues"), and Bob Younger (Gregory Smith of "Boiler Room") with cannon fire when Jesse (Colin Farrell of "Tigerland") rides to their rescue. Mayfield establishes Jesse's hell-bent-for-leather audacity when our impetuous protagonist launches a fearless charge against an army of Yankees. Farrell imitates John Wayne in "True Grit" as he rides full-tilt into battle, blazing away with two six-shooters while he keeps his horses' reins clenched between his teeth.After surviving this fracas, our heroes return to Missouri to resume farming. Along come villainous railroad baron Thaddeus Rains (Harris Yulin of "Rush Hour 2") and henchman Rollin Parker (Terry O'Quinn of "The Stepfather") who are stealing property at two dollars-per-acre. When they approach Ma James (Kathy Bates of "Misery"), she wants her sons to gun them down. Frank convinces Ma to hold off. Rains' chief troubleshooter, Allan Pinkerton (Timothy Dalton of "License to Kill"), warns them that was Rains' only offer. Parker retaliates after the James refuse to sell and sends his ruffians to dynamite their farm. Ma James dies in the explosion, and Jesse and Frank saddle up with the Youngers to wreck vengeance on the railroad.While "American Outlaws" doesn't qualify as a classic, this better-than-average sagebrusher provides a glimpse of the old West we haven't seen in many moons. As Jesse's stalwart wife Zee Mimms, Ali Larter of "Final Destination" has a way with stopping trains dead in their tracks. A crackerjack supporting cast, especially Dalton as Pinkerton, makes "American Outlaws" fun to watch.