No Name and Dynamite Davenport

• Originally titled No Name & Dynamite
• Directed by Errol Sack
• February 21, 2022 (US)

Two bounty hunters go their own way to collect bounties but help each other out when it comes to the more challenging bounties.

No Name and Dynamite Davenport tries to emulate the style of the Spaghetti Western. That’s clearly where those making this drew their inspiration from. There is even a tepid attempt at grainy footage. A point for style. The issue is you cannot consistently see it. The visual tone of the movie needed to be dialed down a touch to make that bit of style more noticeable. I wish the grainy footage effective been more prominent and perhaps combined with some kind of effect on the color palette. The little flecks of white only became obvious when they were against an actor and not in the general frame.

Rich Ting as Dynamite Davenport performance just lacked that swagger or charm necessary for a guy that played with dynamite in a fun Western. He is paired with No Name (Chris Northup) who does a bit more of the character work than one should handle. The dialogue between them is often snappy even if the acting can be a little unpolished.

Yes, there is a character called ‘No Name.’ Northrup is no Eastwood nor does he try to pretend to be one. He is more the sidekick in an 80s action movie with additional screentime. No Name does more to expand upon Dynamite than Dynamite does leaving No Name a blank canvas rather than a mysterious stranger. There are other vague references to the Spaghetti Western heyday and the giants thereof littered about the movie but none as obvious as ‘No Name.’

It’s a lower budgeted movie that’s clearly made by those who love the Spaghetti Western genre. It’s almost a forgivable sin to have a weak actor but this would’ve been better with a stronger lead actor with Ting in a supporting part where his flaws could be more easily passed over. You would think that casting an Asian actor would cause the cast to address something involving race but he gets treated n different than any other character.

The story is about a couple of bounty hunters trying to collect assorted bounties. This allows for plenty of action No Name and Dynamite Davenport. It just does not make for a strong singular story. Events feel a little all over the place with no throughline from start to finish. This can make the narrative feel like a few episodes of a series strung together to make a feature film.

It’s a little silly, but not needlessly silly. The jokes and general humor derive from the situations but never undermine them. In Westerns these days it feels like it has become trendy to insert weirdness. Not supernatural or otherworld but something strange that feels like it could be found in the West. Some work better than others. This movie’s story intersects with John Wilkes Boothe, gun wielding little people, bounty hunting magicians, and so much else.

The female bounty hunter Pearl (Natalie Burn) that stole the one bounty came in a little too late and I would’ve like to see more of her. She fit right in with the whole dynamic of the film and wins using brains over brawn. She more than held her own as an individual and possessed a set of skills that made her compatible with the story. She was the equal of the other characters but not in such a way that she could beat up people twice her size which has become a bit of a cliché in films these days. She had a great attitude but was underused.

It was nice to see Vernon Wells show up. Though never a huge name he is certainly memorable when he does show up. One of the great and certainly underutilized villain actors of all time. Ironically his Black Jack Bennett was little more than a passing fancy and not integral to things. Wells can chew the scene with the best of them and really was present in a way significant to nerds like me.

The end of No Name and Dynamite Davenport has a bit of a cliffhanger like they were dangling just a little bit more film to come. This movie is certainly watchable and enjoyable. You won’t feel like you wasted your time. The problem is with the ending. As far as I can tell there is no sequel following. This is it and because of that sense of a cliffhanger ending, it lacks the ability to become comfort food or a fond memory to revisit. 

No Name and Dynamite Davenport is a good buddy Western that’s a bit of an homage to older films. It’s funny and entertaining but that ending though…