What’s It About
When a mysterious prisoner lands in his jail, a border town sheriff faces the wrath of a brutal cartel in this action-packed thriller starring Charlie Weber, Katherine McNamara, and Academy Award® winner Jon Voight.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
High Ground uses nearly every action movie troupe in existence. Like that guy who should have died some time ago is alive long enough to give the person who found him that last bit of crucial information. The bad guy’s guns need to be reloaded so the hero can have a chance to kill him. Meanwhile, the hero never runs out of bullets. There are also long-winded speeches threatening the townsfolk. And no B-movie would be complete if it didn’t have an unbelievable number of bad guys attacking the good guys. I swear there were only six hoods at first. But all of a sudden, after eight guys (all bad) were shot dead, another eight guys were charging the home of the good guys. As the film progressed, it got worse as the troupes became more blatantly apparent. High Ground tries hard to be an action thriller but falls flat on almost every level. The plot follows a former gangster named Nathaniel who’s looking to turn his life around, ending up stuck in a small Colorado town jail while trying to dodge his criminal past. The sheriff, Jake, is your typical troubled ex-military guy with daddy issues. His father, a retired sheriff named Ezra, is pushing Jake’s career and trying to keep the local community on his side. Meanwhile, Nathaniel is sitting in jail, clutching a bible and waiting for whatever comes next. Things get interesting when the crime boss Marcus rolls into town with his crew, hellbent on stopping Nathaniel from testifying. But “interesting” might be too strong a word. The movie spends most of its time with characters talking – and I mean really talking – about absolutely nothing exciting. There’s a potential love interest with Cassie, a diner employee who’s apparently a sharpshooter, but that subplot goes nowhere. The supporting characters like Billy (who has a pregnant wife, because of course he does) and Sharon at the front desk are just there to fill screen time. When the action finally arrives, it’s underwhelming. Some gunfights, a few crashes, and a last-stand finale with some basic booby traps. The stunts are nothing to write home about, and the performances are painfully wooden. By the time the credits roll, you’re left wondering how a movie with such a potentially explosive premise managed to be so incredibly boring. It’s like watching paint dry, but with occasional gunshots. Save your time and skip this one.
OUR RATING – A BY-THE-BOOK 3