“Godless” / Z-View

Godless (2017)

Director: Frank Scott

Screenplay: Frank Scott

Stars:  Jack O’Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Tantoo Cardinal, Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterson and Keith Jardine.

The Pitch: “Scott Frank, the screenwriter of Logan and A Walk Among the Tombstones has a screenplay called Godless.  It’s really good, plus he’ll direct it!”

Tagline: Welcome to no man’s land.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The wild west in the 1880s was at times a Godless place.

Roy Goode is on the run.  He’s being hunted by the notorious outlaw, Frank Griffin and his gang of marauders.  Griffin has let it be known that he will kill any person, family or members of a town that provide comfort or safe passage to Goode.  Although that sounds like an idle threat, every man, woman and child living in the town of Creed was brutally murdered by Griffin and his gang when they learned Goode had spent time there.

Now Goode, recovering from an injury, has found himself in LaBelle, a small town where a mining accident killed almost every man living there.  If Goode leaves town, Griffin and his gang will still kill the townspeople.  If Goode stays, he’ll die with them. One thing is for sure… when Griffin and his gang get to LaBelle there will be a reckoning.

I can’t sing the praises for Godless enough.  Scott Frank, the writer and director has created a classic.  Godless features a big cast and each role was filled perfectly.  Each character feels real and we’re provided their backstory seamlessly as the story moves forward.

The story is told in 7 episodes and although I hated to see Godless end, the story was done.  An advantage of being a self-contained story (and Frank makes excellent use of) is that all bets are off on who lives and who dies.

Godless is one of those rare shows/movies that resonated with me in all aspects and gets my highest recommendation.

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