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Scott Frank delivers a western to savor with Netflix's 'Godless'

If you love westerns and don't like the pale imitations Hollywood has offered in recent years (The Magnificent Seven remake can die a slow death by hanging), check out Scott Frank's Godless on Netflix.
Netflix

Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) knows exactly how he is going to die. The most notorious outlaw in the land will tell any soul, dead or alive, that he has seen his death, and it won't come by a hand of the law. It is what he believes, and even though every man and woman in the world wants him dead, it's hard to doubt him.

Griffin is just one of the unique characters that darkens the landscape that writer/director Scott Frank has created for his Netflix mini-series, a western called Godless. Well-known for his cinematic delight such as Get Shorty, Out of Sight, The Lookout, and Minority Report, Frank's honest and cinematically pulpy writing was built for an old-fashioned gunslinger, and this series is an absolute pleasure.

Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell from Unbroken) is a former member of Griffin's crew who decided to break off from the gang and tried to stop a train robbery that backfired, resulting in the demolition of an entire town called Creed. Wounded and needing to lay low, Roy finds himself under the care of the twice-widowed Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery from Downtown Abbey and Good Behavior), and they find themselves between another town, La Belle, and Griffin's path.

There's also a sheriff losing his sight (Scoot McNairy), whose tough as nails sister Mary (Merritt Wever from Nurse Jackie) wants to do what is best for La Belle, even if the rest of the women in town don't share her sentiment. Oh, and did I mention this town — due to a terrible mining accident — is populated mostly by women.

Widows. Outlaws. Badges. More widows. Flawed, demon-filled, and angry souls. You wouldn't call anyone on the show wholly good or complete evil; they are all driven by different agendas and a self-taught moral code.

Take Griffin for example. The man sleeps with other men's wives, orders his men to blow the heads off Marshalls, takes land like a normal person would grab a six pack of beer off the shelf, but he isn't a 100% terrible person. Frank provides context and layers of Griffin's backstory and his connection to Goode, and how he came to be who he is. There's decency in every person; it's simply their job to find it and utilize it. Frank has refused to go there in a long time, and he kills at ease, so he is the big bad of Godless.

It helps to have an actor of Daniels caliber waging war inside the bones of such a multi-faceted villain. It's not too hard to master a Southern accent or ride a horse, but Daniels creates a villain for the ages in Griffin. He's the first reason you need to watch the series. He brings an edge and wit to Frank that other actors would have bypassed for extra malice or scenery chewing regimens.

The entire seven-episode series sets up a collision course between Frank and this town of women, with Goode and Fletcher tossed into the middle. Dockery has played a number of conflicted women, but she finds fresh ways to unfold Alice's past that adds juice to the current situation. She has a restraint and natural beauty that makes every tiny detail about Alice placed in a need to know vacuum.

O'Connell is the classic man of few words anti-hero, and the Brit handles the accent and role just fine without truly standing out. McNairy fares better, tapping into the goofy yet noble nature of a good man slowly losing his righteous grip on the law.

Is Godless wildly original? No. If you know and love a good western, you'll notice certain character traits and developments coming. You know Kim Coates (so good as Tig on Sons of Anarchy) is pure dirt and the hotshot young deputy (Thomas Brodie-Sangster from Game of Thrones) is in way over his head. You know certain people are going to die before they even open their mouth while others will be impossible to kill.

That doesn't mean the show is anything but entertaining and refreshing. Like a well-constructed action film, a western doesn't have to reinvent the wheel to be satisfying. Create some wicked characters, set their nerve endings to madness, and watch them unleash the violence on others. Every western ends in a big gunfight. No one will tune into Godless looking for a death-defying chess match in the end. Frank preserves the entertainment by creating people you care about and will follow to the end.

The gunfights are masterfully choreographed, with bodies flying through windows upon being shot, and horse riding playing a part in the battles. I loved the way that the civilian women of the town fired a weapon and didn't hit something with every shot. The realism in the gun battles was a wise kick from Frank, which then creates more suspense. There's just enough shock in the finale's fatales to keep your seat busy.

The women are a big factor in this show's success. In addition to Dockery and Weaver, Tantoo Cardinal gets a good stint as Iyovi, the Indian who aides Alice and gives Goode the lovable nickname, "stray dog". Samantha Soule's Charlotte Temple and Christiane Seidel's Martha each bring their own blend of fire to limited screen time. They all make it count.

If you love westerns and don't like the pale imitations Hollywood has offered in recent years (The Magnificent Seven remake can die a slow death by hanging), check out Scott Frank's Godless on Netflix. It's got Jeff Daniels breaking bad, amazing gunfights and some lovely yet wicked ladies.

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