Billy the Kid

• Directed by Christopher Forbes
• August 27, 2013 (US)

A bounty hunter and a group of outlaws called “Four of the Apocalypse” face off in the town of Dogma.

When I decided to watch the 2013 film Billy the Kid it was because none of my options were appealing. This looked like the least offensive so “Boom!” Not sure if I was wrong but somehow I doubt I was right.

There is little movie/story here with only a fraction of THAT focusing on the title character. Billed as how Billy the Kid (Christopher Bowman) became Billy the Kid, it is more about how his *fictional* bounty hunter pops Leon Copper (Cody McCarver) rides back into town and confronts disappearing on Billy’s mom Katherine (Kimberly Campbell) years prior. If I recall his mom died when he was very young of tuberculosis so that right away tells you this is all fiction. That and Bowman is definitely older than Billy the Kid ever got.

Billy is barely a character here. Then again that could be said of any character. We get to know very little about them since they are just presented. Emotional state or motivations or even dispositions are a complete mystery.

The dialogue has all the passion of a cold read. No emotion or attempt at such. Emotional moments appear to be well written, but the acting is so bad that you are left curious why anything matters to the people. I doubt these are seasoned performers at all. Community theater is a dream they will never achieve.

Historical anachronisms are not hidden well or ever. Windows in shots have double pane glass, there are passing glimpses of modern lighting, and other bits of the new. The clothing itself looks like cheap Western wear from a store with the occasional plain t-shirt or cheap jeans popping up here or there to further ruin the illusion. Despite those shortfalls I was left feeling the people behind this had a love of the Western genre even if they had nothing else. They tried for the dangerous yet honorable good guy and truly evil baddies.

At around 80 minutes it tries not to overstay its welcome but with so little quality or story or acting, Billy the Kid overstays its welcome about 30 minutes out of the gate. There is a lot of establishing shots and the unfolding of the plan by the outlaws falls by the wayside giving the film over to a drama that never really gets resolved. What I am saying is nothing happens yet plenty starts.

The story is stretched out. Between establishing shots and some ill-fitting mystical weirdness, it feels completely unfocused. One of the outlaws speaks to his dead buddy who appears in a fire and informs him of what happened. That reeks of somebody realizing the need for a scene. Either a continuity error was noticed or the original bridging moment was ditched for some reason.

If you come across the 2013 film Billy the Kid just skip it. It’s not worth your time. It’s so bad you will regret watching it.