There was a moment early on where I was worried the violence would be filmed like a horror movie, but happily that was not the case. The film's main strength is that it works entirely as a western while sort of pushing the boundaries of what we've seen in westerns before. I like very much how matter-of-fact it is, not just in the gruesome moments, but also with the way it treats its characters - a lot of westerns would…

This probably hasn’t aged quite as well as some of the American noir it takes as inspiration, but the style and vibes are undeniable. You could criticize the plot for being almost totally reliant on coincidence, but then again, it makes no pretense of being anything but a story about irony and bad luck, which makes the movie way more fun than I thought it would be. Well, as much fun as you can have while meditating on despair.

But…

I really wanted to like this more than I did. This is a type of movie that I generally love, and while it has its moments - many of them, so many that it absolutely makes for worthwhile viewing - it just didn't quite work for me overall.

Ultimately I think the film undermines its attempt to make a serious statement by not being able to resist what feels like a multitude of climactic moments and unearned payoffs. Let us…