>it's not his best by any means but he knocked it out of the
>park IMO. Really helped by the acting (Phoenix plays the
>violent bully with his usual flair, Reilly is luminous, and I
>dug the way Amed showed his character's introverted but
>resounding faith. Gyllenhaal's choices were more...peculiar)

Yeah Jake seemed a little odd/off in this. Curious if that's how his character comes off in the book too.
,
>and with some great cinematography, of which the nighttime
>shootouts shot wide were a real highlight I thought.

Loved those too & that one scene w/ Joaquin & the all black background

>Westerns are tough since everything about them had been
>done/said, but I found this to be a worthwhile addition to the
>genre, without being too in debt to its predecessors

Agreed, I recommend it to fans of the genre w/ a few reservations...I thought this lady sitting at the end of my row was going to lose her shit over a couple scenes