A Fistful of Lead

• Directed by Mark Price
• December 2018 (UK)

Four outlaws attempt to rob a bank in the gold-rush town of Bath Water but soon realize they’ve been double-crossed.

From the opening moments of A Fistful of Lead every character looks very modern in overall appearance. I swear some of them are even wearing store-bought jeans. But it’s more than that. Their facial hair and their hairstyles look far too current. Their clothes look fresh and new with barely a speck of dirt on them. Issues go beyond that nitpick though.

After an opening shoot out which is well choreographed for what it is (and a good way to start a Western) things get kind of boring. Nothing against those behind this but I don’t think anybody here has any strong acting or general film experience. Based off of what I recognize from the set, I’m betting these are some YouTube actors who released a few shorts and decided that a movie was just as easy.

Some of the blood on injured characters looks like food coloring and with the wounds looking like dried vodka sauce. It’s actually kind of silly. The violence in A Fistful of Lead is a random mix of bad blood squibs and even worse CGI blood squibs. People’s heads get huge holes blown in them from sidearms with burgundy splatter on the screen. It is like a tank shell cut through their skull!

This is one of those movies in whose plot everybody turns on everybody. Those can be good even if it is cliché. The posse coming to get the outlaws has tension and occasionally turns on each other. The outlaws trapped in the mine certainly turn on each other. All these people turning on each other just makes things a little uncertain of who the movie centers on. Are there parallels between both groups? Or are the main characters the outlaws in the mine or even the posse?

I give Mark Price and friends credit for an interesting plot idea. They use something pretty frequent in modern films-an insurance scam. A group of female robbers was tricked into wanting to rob a bank. A group of male robbers robbed the bank first. Turns out it was all set up by a never seen Asian man who turns out to be the newly minted sheriff of the town. Takes a little bit for that to come out as well as who all is involved. Unfortunately the acting and the writing and even the direction don’t lend itself to the level of suspense. It’s a good idea but it’s poorly executed. 

A Fistful of Lead is a good idea hampered by a poor execution either from a lack of experience or a lack of talent. The quality at its center may help you make it through but I don’t know if it’s something to seek out.