Trace Adkins is a kick-axx Westerner, but this low-budget Western is substandard
RELEASED IN 2016 and directed by Terry Miles, “Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story” stars Trace Adkins as a former stagecoach robber who turns over a new leaf and marries, but feels forced to turn back to outlawry when a one-eyed marshal tries to apprehend him (Judd Nelson). Kim Coates and Claude Duhamel are on hand as his gang members.
Adkins makes for an iconic Westerner, as witnessed in “Traded” (2016) and “Hickok” (2017). The difference between “Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story” and those two is (1.) Adkins plays the main protagonist and (2.) it’s noticeably inferior in overall filmmaking, even though it cost approximately the same amount to make. In other words, as low-budget as “Traded” and “Hickok” were, they worked quite well as made-for-TV (or direct-to-video) Westerns, all things considered. “Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story” is almost amateurish by comparison.
Nevertheless, it has some points of interest for those who don’t mind slipshod productions: Adkins is a likable protagonist; the one-eyed marshal was the dope-smoking rebel in “The Breakfast Club” (1985); Michelle Harrison is stunning as the protagonist’s redheaded wife, Laura Lee; Helena Marie plays Bonnie, a striking tall blonde deputy with a penchant for killing; the British Columbia locations are effective; and there’s a quality moral about not trusting people of dubious character, particularly LIARS.
THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 30 minutes and was shot in British Columbia (Mission and Maple Ridge). WRITERS: Dan Benamor and Matt Williams.
GRADE: C/C-
