An intriguing beginning -- you know the type that inspires you to put the movie on pause while you sneak away to microwave some popcorn and hurry back to tap the pause button again. Wow! the film even starts off with a specific year, signaling a well researched historical background to an era in New Zealand few know about. And double Wow! the producer was endowed with a $4 million budget to get really creative. Alas, the popcorn turned out to be more interesting than The Stolen. Hanni Calder, the 1971 western heroine, did a 360 in her grave.
The promise was a revenge thriller about a sophisticated aristocrat using her London smarts to outfox a group of grunting bumpkins in the mindless wastelands of 19th century New Zealand. That was the promise. Well you now know what was delivered -- a cliche and a disappointing one at that. No surprise the film has only taken in $27,741 so far.
Review of The Stolen
