Western aficionado Walter Hill and Oscar-winning Christoph Waltz return to the genre with a disappointing outcome. Dead for a Dollar is your classic shoot ‘em up, all the way from gringo bounty humour to his loquacious antagonist, a supposed damsel in distress, loyal sidekick, Mexican outlaws, and an unfeeling baron struggling over control of a sun-scorched town. Add in a remarkable supporting cast, and you will understand why this could have been amazing. But instead we get a dreary movie filled with dead characters and tepid action scenes. Its narrative crawls tortuously on towards what one suspects is meant as a climax but seems more like weird editing options.
In 1897 Albuquerque initially located , New Mexico (Waltz) pays an old bounty hunter in jail named Max Borlund. Joe Cribbens (Willem Dafoe) is just about finishing his five-year term in prison. Notably, Mr.Borlund or Borlund prefers to be addressed by his last name only when he speaks to Joe says don’t look for revenge if he crosses his path again “You are dead.” That’s exactly what Joe responds when Borlund tells him that he will be the first thing on his mind once they cross paths again.
Several months later, Borlund was connected by the army with rich Martin Kidd who lived there (Hamish Linklater). A Buffalo Soldier named Elijah Jones kidnapped Rachel (Rachel Brosnahan), Martin’s wife as well as ran away into Mexico along with her husband. He wants ten thousand dollars in return for her freedom. No way! It would cost him two thousand dollars if it were to be given to Borlund so that he can save Rachel and capture Elijah while at it. Another negro cavalry officer Poe (Warren Burke) assists Borlund.
Poe narrates to Borlund differently on their way down south towards Mexico’s border. She hated her husband. She went with Elijah to get away from him. Meanwhile in Guadalupe, the place Tiberio Vargas (Benjamin Bratt) listens and knows that they are hiding from him. Half of the ransom is payable for their safe escape. But Borlund and Poe have gotten their prey but at what cost? Borlund lets Rachel know that Martin is here to take her away again. But no, she’d rather die than return with her husband.
Borlund who discovers Joe visiting the last time when he is in town realizes he has more problems than anticipated. Dead for a Dollar has an overdramatic twist that leaves much to be desired. Everybody knows almost immediately that it was purely a setup for this kidnapping all along by different people; why then would Vargas bother negotiating with them yet he could have simply abducted Rachel and sold her back to Martin? The film portrays Borlund as an ethical man who has a feeling of guilt in him; but when the truth comes out, why does he still keep Rachel and Elijah? Also, isn’t it surprising how Joe finds himself crossing paths with Borlund at such an exact time hundreds of miles apart? The convergence points are completely disjointed.
The previous time Waltz played Western bounty hunter, his performance won every major acting award there was for Django Unchained . As good as his portrayal of Borlund is though—it’s just not memorable enough! This character lacks life entirely so far as I can tell you about this character: there is nothing about him at all worth noting! On the other hand, Joe by Dafoe might as well come out from Red Dead Redemption video game. He’s just another card-playing whiskey-swigging outlaw figure we find in all western types of movies today. However, Brosnahan manages to make something interesting out of this role—meaning one among these characters is real enough – a wealthy white woman who left her husband for a black soldier. Rachel is played by Brosnahan as outspoken and in control of her own life. She’s not willing to be a victim or someone else’s pawn.
Hill (The Warriors, Deadwood) annoys with a climax that’s strangely shot and edited. Vargas and his goons riding into town looks like it was cut from different sequences. The villains pose zero threat as one-shot kills. The showdown between Borlund and Joe wouldn’t wake a sleeping baby. Diverse casting is the only noteworthy aspect of Dead for a Dollar. Black and Latino characters are basically use guns but they at least have roles in the narrative.
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