The Baytown Outlaws
Director: Barry Battles
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton,
Eva Longoria, Daniel Cudmore, Travis Fimmel, Clayne Crawford
***
Not to be taken seriously, The Baytown Outlaws is a politically incorrect, bloodily fun attempt to channel some of the cheap thrills of grindhouse cinema from the 1960s and 1970s.
Three grungy redneck brothers scratch a living as low-paid assassins for the local sheriff. After botching a job that leaves the wrong people dead, they think their luck has turned when Celeste (Longoria) offers them US$25,000 (Dh91,000) to retrieve her godson from her violent ex, Carlos (Thornton, in top scenery-chewing form). What she hasn’t told them is that the former is a wheelchair-bound teenager, the latter a ruthless drug lord.
The director Battles throws gangs of sexy biker chicks, Native Americans who scalp their victims, and African-Americans who look like they've escaped from a Mad Max movie into the wild mix, whose brutal nihilism is tempered (slightly) by the loving bond between the killer siblings.
There is nothing particularly new, but The Baytown Outlaws is well-made, well-acted and action-packed. It even has a heart. As an unpretentious slice of midnight movie mayhem, it delivers. Just don't expect good taste.
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