Jericho (2000)

**_Indie Western delivers with good story and characters_**

A traveler in southwest Texas (Leon Coffee) finds a wounded man suffering amnesia (Mark Valley). Although polar opposites, they develop a friendship as it is discovered that the latter is extraordinarily skilled with handguns and his past is linked to a robbery in Jericho, which resulted in the death of the town’s sheriff.

“Jericho” (2000-2001) is obviously low-budget but proficient enough to make it worthwhile if you give it a chance. It gets better as it proceeds with the compelling relationship between the two protagonists, decent Western action, and an unexpected revelation in the last act. Country star Mark Collie has a notable part as Johnny O while Buck Taylor from TV’s Gunsmoke appears as Pap.

There is a glaring plot issue: Why did the two outlaws at the beginning take the wounded/dead guy on the train with them? There are a couple of possible answers, but they’re questionable. The writers could’ve tweaked the sequence with something more convincing with a little thought. There’s one other dubious element, but I can’t cite it or it will spoil the surprise ending.

Nevertheless, this is an entertaining Western Indie that leaves you with a good feeling.

It runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot mostly at Alamo Village, Brackettville, Texas, and nearby Rancho Rio Grande in Del Rio, which is 40 miles to the west. The train scenes were done in Chama, New Mexico, with a scene or two done across the border in Colorado at Los Pinos.

GRADE: B