Shadow on the Mesa
Network: Hallmark Movie Channel
Original Air Date: March 23, 2013
CAST:
Kevin Sorbo ... Ray Eastman
Wes Brown ... Wes Rawlins
Gail O'Grady ... Mona Eastman
Greg Evigan ... Peter Dowdy
Shane Johnson ... Art Dowdy
Andrew Lawrence ... J.T. Dowdy
Barry Corbin ... Jake Rawlins
Meredith Baxter ... Emily Rawlins
Rick Blanchard ... Bartender
Erik Aude ... Thor Welsh
Ronnie Gene Blevins ... Trace Hodges
Stephen Bridgewater ... Jonesy
Dave Florek ... Baldy
Deirdre Lovejoy ... Sally
Shannon Lucio ... Rosalie Eastman
Dusty Sorg ... Potluck
PLOT:
Wes Rawlins is considered one of the bet bounty hunters in the West. His life changes when he finds out that his mother is dead and the man responsible is still at large. Wes believes that his long lost father Ray Eastman is responsible and sets out to find him seeking revenge. Instead, he discovers that his father is involved in a territorial battle with a greedy landowner. As Wes draws close to the family he has never known, he stays to help them defend their homestead.
Movie Review:
God.
Shadow on the Mesa has all the glory of a true American Frontier Western where men trusted in the almighty and justice was served the old fashioned way.
Guns.
It’s a story where right is right and wrong is definitely wrong- with no room for compromise in between.
Grit.
Wes Brown (June in January) portrays Wes Rawlins, who is on a mission to seek out his father, Ray Eastman (portrayed by Kevin Sorbo, Santa Suit, What If, Abel's Field, God's Not Dead, etc...)) after the passing of his mother.
Greed.
Once Wes finds his father, he must decide whether or not he can trust him, or his wife and grown children, to reveal his true identity. Before Wes can do that, however, trouble arises, as the Dowdy gang is seeking to destroy them and take over their land.
Ray's son Chuck joins Wes in this gun-battle to protect their ranch. By instinct, Wes becomes a protective son and older brother. It becomes clear that someone in the Eastman family has allowed greed to take over as they have been plotting with the Dowdy gang.
As the DVD tagline says, "Retribution comes with a bullet."
Grace.
Overall, it’s a powerful narrative of good always triumphing over evil and family standing up to defend one another.
See or Skip:
Please Note: this is a western! Therefore, expect gun-fights and blood-shed. That was a fact of life on our American frontier.
This was a true western, reminiscent of the old John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Clint Eastwood “cowboy movies”. If you are a fan of those, you will truly enjoy seeing Kevin Sorbo and Wes Brown in ‘Shadow on the Mesa’.
