Blackthorn plays out against the jaw-droppingly atmospheric landscapes of Bolivia – towering Andean mountain ranges, jungly passes, deserts and salt flats and isolated villages. In the movie, an ageing Butch Cassidy (who has survived the famous shoot-out and has been living quietly incognito as a horse breeder) has determined to return to the US. En route however he inadvertently falls in with Spanish mining engineer who’s on the run from a scary bunch of enforcers-on-horseback, and the course of his future is irrevocably changed…
As mentioned, Blackthorn filmed on location in Bolivia, and the authenticity and the originality of the landscapes adds immeasurably to the experience of film-going. Also though, the casting is great – Sam Shepheard makes a grizzly Butch, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is spot on as a younger version. (seriously, these guys could be related) The achingly handsome Eduardo Noriega plays the Spaniard; he looks great in every scene. So the movie only really fails when the dialogue is in English because the Spanish actors seem to have to try too hard. But that’s it. It’s not a break-out movie or anything, but the locations alone mean it’s unlike anything else you’ll see this year.
