'THE SISTERS BROTHERS'........THE BEST SHOT (SO FAR) AT A 21st CENTURY WESTERN......

The Sisters Brothers (2018)    It's not exactly breaking news that filmmakers anywhere can seize upon our Great Cultural Mythology, the American Western.......and bend, warp and shape it to their will....(whatever that may be)

                 Sergio Leone and the Italians tossed out the moral compass and codes of honor that governed Westerns.......populating arid landscapes with perpetual cruelty, sadism and nihilistic violence.....

                 Starting in the early 70's (kicked off by Sam Peckinpah's 1969 "The Wild Bunch"), American filmmakers introduced 'revisionist' Westerns..........using the genre like a political cartoon, a backdoor way to make the wild west a metaphor for the carnage of Vietnam and all  the corrosive divisions of the Nixon era.

                 And now we have the newest funhouse-mirror vision of westerns.......

                 The 21st Century Western.

                 We don't consider ourselves the world's authority on this spankin' fresh warping of the genre......"The Sisters Brothers" is only the third one of these we've seen.......(the others:  2017's "Hostiles" with Christian Bale and 2018's 'Damsel' with Robert Pattinson)...

                 If you haven't come across a 21st Century western yet, the first viewing of these can be a little bit jarring.......similar to the first time American audiences watched "A Fistful Of Dollars", with everybody except Clint Eastwood speaking in badly dubbed English.....(even Clint had to dub in himself....)

                 Everyone does speak English in 21 Century westerns.....millennial English. Conversational 2019 English.......

                  So when you listen to Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly banter as 1850's bounty hunting assassins, they sound like two current college students bickering over their lattes at Starbucks.

                  It takes some getting used to.......but unlike previous attempts (especially the ridiculous dialogue in "Damsel"), "The Sisters Brothers" succeeds in creating its own odd little universe, a mad mixture of Millennial conversation, ferocious violence, and surprising moments of character insight.

                 Unlike previous stabs at this fledgling style, the superb actors here fully commit to their roles and the story they're telling........a wandering quest filled with stunning reversals of fortune, tragedy, redemption and at times dark comedy.

                  We'll reveal no plot details whatsoever......this is a movie you should watch without knowing at all how it unfolds........sit back and let it surprise you at every twist and turn...

                But we don't want to finish without mentioning Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed as the other half of the quartet that comprise this brilliant cast.  They may be far, far away from traditional westerns, but you don't want to miss these four guys in action. 4 stars (****)