RELEASED IN 2017 and directed by Timothy Woodward Jr., "Hickok" stars Luke Hemsworth as the titular lawman and gunslinger, nicknamed Wild Bill, who is commissioned as Marshal to tame the wildest cow-town in the Old West, Abilene, Kansas. Kris Kristofferson plays the noble mayor and Bruce Dern the town doctor while Trace Adkins is on hand as the nefarious mogul of the town. Cameron Richardson plays the woman they vie for whereas Kaiwi Lyman appears as Hickok's gunfighter rival.

Except for the opening sequences, this is a town-bound Western similar in theme to those Wyatt Earp Westerns where Earp has to clean up a town (Dodge City, Tombstone, whatever). Since practically the entire story takes place in town it's irrelevant that California substitutes for Kansas. It's great to see old Western stars Kristofferson and Dern in fairly significant peripheral roles. Luke is stalwart as the protagonist and the movie really drives home the bold resolve it would take to tame a wild cow-town. Meanwhile the hulking Adkins is formidable as the heavy.

While this is a relatively low-budget adult Western (with a little bit of cussing, nudity, covert sex) and there are obvious mistakes here and there (e.g. the kid's bandage appearing on the wrong leg),not to mention the cast probably learned their lines the night before, as well as the predictableness concerning Mattie's kid, the script and main cast keep things compelling. There are several highlights and a few spectacular shots, like the train bridge in the opening act and, later, the moonlit sky.

In short, the movie's entertaining for a low budget Western that doesn't overstay its welcome. Western fans who don't demand Grade A quality should eat this up. Keep in mind that not every Western can have the mega-funds of blockbusters like "Dances With Wolves" and "Unforgiven." Just don't look to "Hickok" for accurate history. Nevertheless, I'd watch "Hickok" over the comparatively dull "Wild Bill" (1995) any day.

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour 28 minutes and was shot in Agoura (Paramount Ranch) & Santa Clarita, California. WRITER: Michael Lanahan.

GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

I think if this story was presented without the characters having historical names, and events that could be easily researched, it would have fared a lot better with IMDb's reviewers for the film. For a Netflix original film, I didn't think it was all that bad, but my prior knowledge of Wild Bill Hickok's career caused me to shake my head a few times. Like the treatment of John Wesley Hardin (Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau). The way the two men first met is recounted accurately enough. There was a face to face stare down between the two men, and Hardin used the 'road agent spin' on Hickok, after which they settled their confrontation with a drink at a local saloon. But Hardin staying on as a deputy was sheer invention for the story and completely unnecessary.

The outcome of Hickok's (Luke Hemsworth) feud with Phil Poe (Trace Adkins) was also historically accurate, but missing a huge part of the story. In the heat of battle, Hickok also turned and fired upon another man who he thought was coming to Coe's aid. It turned out to be Hickok's own deputy Mike Williams who wound up dead in the street. That event devastated the frontier lawman, after which he became a wanderer with a guilty conscience, giving up his badge and resorting to gambling and alcohol.

It seems like Trace Adkins has found himself a nice little niche in the Western genre with films destined for a Netflix release. This is the third one I've seen him in following "Traded" and "Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story". Acting wise, he seems to be getting better with each outing, as long as he's not being asked to do the heavy lifting. His role as Phil Poe here was handled fairly well.

Kris Kristofferson appears to be settling into a role as the grand old man of TV Westerns; he's also appeared in a handful lately, along side Adkins in this film and also that "Traded" flick. I guess you can't beat the work, he's not really on screen very much and usually dispensing sage advice from the sidelines, befitting his age and status among Country Western's stalwarts.

As for Luke Hemsworth, this was my first look at him. Not terrible here, with room to grow as an actor. The biggest surprise of the story for me was seeing Bruce Dern show up as Doc Rivers O'Roarke. One wonders why guys like him and Kristofferson keep on making pictures into their Eighties, but darn if they don't put on a good show just the same. Here's to next time.

Western movies is not usually within my preferred genre of movies to sit down to watch, but I was given the chance to watch this.

And I must admit that I was a little bit intrigued as I saw that Kris Kristofferson was on the cast list. But it turned out that he had only a minor role in the movie.

The storyline was entertaining, for sure, although it suffered from being generic and predictable. There certainly was a good flow to the movie, and good progression in the storyline, so you never felt that the movie came to a halt.

The acting in the movie was good, and the actors and actresses were putting in good efforts to bring their characters to life on the screen.

But somehow I sit here with a feeling of 'was that really it?' now that I have watched the movie.

Surely this movie is one for true fans of the old classic western genre.