An effective gender exercise, not much else

Posted in: Blu-Ray, Movies, Review | Tagged: b movie, Francis Galluppi, Last Stop in Yuma County, pulp crime

Last Stop in Yuma County is a perfectly effective low-budget independent neo-Western crime film that unfortunately is nothing more than that.

Last Stop in Yuma County is a curiosity, a pastiche of the low-budget crime films that were Hollywood’s bread and butter in the 1970s, and the kind of pastiche that, again, is postmodern. Quentin Tarantino did what launched his career. First director Francis Galluppi he certainly loves the genre, perhaps a little too much, because the film does little to surprise us and make itself memorable.

Last Stop in Yuma County is set in 1970s Arizona, which taps into the filmmakers’ nostalgia for a bygone era and eliminates the inconvenience of smartphones that make crime stories harder to write these days, since much of the suspense filmmakers rely on relies on people not being able to connect with each other immediately. This would often solve many real-life problems, but it would deprive storytellers of an easy way to build suspense. Namely: a traveling salesman (Jim Cummings) stops at a gas station only to find that the tanks are empty and that the day’s gas delivery is late, so he decides to wait at the nearby restaurant so he can fill up his car and continue on to California to attend his young daughter’s birthday. The only waitress is the local sheriff’s wife (Jocelin Donahue), and when two bank robbers (Richard Brake And Nicolas Logan) show up and more and more customers show up, all stranded and needing gas, a confrontation ensues. The rest of the story is how anyone gets out in one piece, if they ever do.

You can see all the best pulp crime movies and stories bubbling away below Last Stop in Yuma Countybut the flaw is its lack of novelty, surprise or humor in the story that elevates it above mere generic. Every character is a type and nothing more. The plot unfolds like a puzzle, solving itself without any interesting themes or moments that would make the film memorable. It’s an exercise in pastiche and feels like a demo reel or a filmmaker’s calling card. Galluppi shows himself to be a skilled and effective director but doesn’t seem to have anything to say. He’d certainly do a good job on any film he was hired to make next, but he’s established that he’s a good craft director and nothing else so far. It’s the kind of low-budget independent crime film you might watch when there’s nothing better, and then not remember once it’s over.

Last Stop in Yuma County is now available on VOD and Blu-Ray.

Last Stop in Yuma County

---

Notice of Adi Tantimedh

---

7/ten

A perfectly good low-budget indie crime film that feels like an audition or demo reel for a new director. Lacking memorable characters, humor, or surprises, this film passes the time but you won’t regret watching it, but you won’t remember much of it once it’s over, especially when a more interesting film comes along.

Stay up to date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!