The Unholy Trinity Review: Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson Elevate Richard Gray’s Familiar Western
The first thing that got me interested in checking out The Unholy Trinity is the inspired casting of Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson. The latter is no stranger to appearing in Western movies, including two of them from Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight. Despite the two receiving the top billing, the movie is actually told from Brandon Lessard’s perspective, who plays the young protagonist Henry Broadway.
Far from a tough guy, Henry is the son of a soon-to-be-executed father, Isaac (Tim Daly), where the latter is sentenced to hang. And just before his impending death, he wants his son to locate and kill a certain Saul Butler. The man in question is a corrupt sheriff from Trinity, who frames Henry’s father in the first place. Soon, the story continues with Henry travelling to the aforementioned small Montana town to fulfil his late father’s wish for vengeance.
But things get complicated when the man that Henry is supposed to kill turns out to be already dead and buried. The current sheriff in town is Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), where he and Henry first cross paths and nearly end up shooting at each other before they settle their misunderstanding. Dove, in the meantime, has a problem of his own related to protecting a Native American woman named Running Club (Q’orianka Kilcher), who’s been laying low after being falsely accused of killing the previous sheriff. She’s now become the target of Butler’s friend, Gideon (Gianni Capaldi), who’s in the town to avenge his death.
Then, there’s a mysterious wanderer with a shady motivation who simply calls himself St. Christopher (Samuel L. Jackson). Lee Zachariah’s screenplay treads familiar ground that we have seen countless times before in the Western genre. It’s predictable from start to end with all the expected storytelling beats, but at least I’m glad this movie only runs at 95 minutes. The pace may have been erratic in places, while Brandon Lessard’s lead turn as the naive and mostly passive-aggressive Henry Broadway is the weakest link and not to mention, the least interesting character of this movie.
But thankfully, Australian director Richard Gray, who has a fair share of experience in the Western genre, including previously directing Gabriel Byrne and Thomas Jane in Murder at Yellowstone City and served as an executive producer for the controversial Alec Baldwin-starred Rust, manages to muster a decent shoot ’em-up Western. The action is decent, with the highlight coming from the final showdown during the climactic third act, while co-composers Marco Beltrami and Tristan Beltrami help to enliven the gunfight moments with their propulsive score.
Gray also made good use of the two screen veterans, Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson. The former’s conflicted Irish lawman role, who prefers to talk peace and only resorts to gun violence when deemed necessary, brings a world-weary gravitas to his role as Sheriff Gabriel Dove. His sympathetic portrayal contrasts well with Jackson’s turn as the scheming manipulator, St. Christopher. He easily steals the show here with his lively performance, mixing cocky swagger with a sneaky, chameleon-like acting prowess.
Frankly, The Unholy Trinity would have been a bust if it weren’t for Brosnan and Jackson’s above-average performances in keeping the movie from sinking into mediocrity. As for the supporting cast, the movie benefits from strong female characters, including Q’orianka Kilcher as the fearless Running Club and Veronica Ferres, who plays Dove’s tough deputy-wife Sarah, where these two characters are neither a slouch nor a damsel-in-distress when it comes to picking up their guns and shoot down the bad guys. The Unholy Trinity is equally notable for Thomas Scott Stanton’s stunning cinematography for shooting on location in Montana, notably the outdoor vistas and blue sky.
