The Outsider

Shades of “Angel & The Badman” in this tale of wounded gunfighter Daly turning up at Quaker Watts’ shack. She takes him in and nurses him back to health, although wary of his quick temper. As he recovers, he is shadowed by her wide-eyed son, in the manner of “Shane”. Despite the obvious antecedents, this succeeds on its own merits as a rewarding adult Western. The local gang are gunning for Daly, having earlier swiftly dispatched Watts’ husband, but she finds opposition to her burgeoning love from the leaders of her cult, as Daly goes to town to face the gang. Keith Carradine is the religious leader, David Carradine the doctor.

**_Hidden gem of a Western_** In Montana, 1887, a shootist (Tim Daly) finds sanctuary with a widow (Naomi Watts) & her son, who happen to belong to a Plain People sect. Keith Carradine plays a neighboring elder while David Carradine is on hand as the local doctor. "The Outsider" (2002) meshes ideas from “Angel and the Badman,” “Shane,” “Witness” and “The Scarlet Letter” (1995) and is pretty much on par with the best of ’em in its own unique way. There’s a reverent, beautiful vibe reminiscent of “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992), just with the setting & tone of the future “Forsaken” with Donald & Kiefer Sutherland. Two heavy topics are addressed. One is absolute pacifism vs limited pacifism. The small sect advocates the former while the movie advocates the latter. Rebecca Yoder (Naomi) argues her case on the grounds of “turning the cheek,” but the Lord was talking about ignoring an insult for the sake of peace in that passage (since the statement referred to responding to a backhanded slap to the face); he wasn’t talking about dealing with serious criminal acts, like murder. As far as criminal acts go, Christ plainly said, “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.” Nehemiah 4 emphasizes how the returning Hebrews to Jerusalem “did their work with one hand and held…

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