Director: J.S. Cardone
Starring: Scott Glenn, Angela Alvarado, Benjamin Bratt
Running Time: 97 minutes
Synopsis: With his marriage imploding, burnt-out Los Angeles cop John Cain (Scott Glenn) is dispatched to retrieve violent prisoner Nakai Twobear (Benjamin Bratt) from the Navajo reservation. Twobear uses mystical powers to psychologically control Cain, and escapes after causing a car crash. Cain teams up with a group of Navajo officers, including tracker Ray Whitesinger (Angela Alvarado), to hunt the fugitive on horseback in hostile desert terrain.
What Works Well: Scott Glenn adds presence and vulnerability as a cop outside his comfort zone, and engages in edgy sparring with Alvarado's tracker-on-a-mission. Evil exploitation of emotional fragility is a worthwhile theme, but only tentatively explored. Director J.S. Cardone captures some pretty desert scenery.
What Does Not Work As Well: This is a low budget, poorly written, and clunkily paced attempt at an old fashioned posse chase. The final half hour loses coherence in inky darkness, and the characters are only provided basic sketched-in contexts. The villain Twobear could have emerged as a memorable antagonist, but is reduced to frequent cartoonish maniacal laughter, and of course he pauses his ruthless killing tendencies whenever the script demands that key characters be spared.
Key Quote:
Twobear (to Cain): It's your fear that gives me strength.
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