Goodland (2017) Reviews

• Fargo, Kansas

  jwoodsvf142018-06-26

  A low budget flick that works! Using my movie pass before they go bankrupt. Good performances by the Sheriff and Ergo... some plot holes but kept me entertained with a minimum of groans for cliches... Director did a great job of making movie look high budget. Extras were the stars. A little slice of Americana. 7 might be generous but it had the feel that someone really wanted to make a good movie and gave a s#%t!

• Solid Story, Well Told and Enacted

  TheJonesBones2018-12-05

  Though the picture offers nothing spectacular, neither does it stumble. Moments of excellent camera work frame a solid story told by skilled players. Entirely believable, suspenseful if not surprising, and - most importantly for this kind of effort - never overdone. I recommend it for a spare hour or so.

• the body of a drifter is discovered the same day a photographer arrives in a small farming community

  contact-742-5008352017-10-07

  GOODLAND is a heist movie and a Neo-Western that reminds us of works like FARGO and HELL OR HIGH WATER. Sheriff Georgette Gaines (Cinnamon Schultz) is called to investigate the appearance of a drifter's body in a field the very same day a photographer by the name of Ergo Raines (Matt Weiss) arrives in town with a mysterious agenda of his own. Ergo catches the attention of the Sheriff when he begins taking photos around town with a seemingly specific goal in mind. Sheriff Gaines suspects that the drifter she found dead was actually murdered and that Ergo may have something to do with it. Ergo on the other hand is far more complex than he seems and hides more secrets beyond what Sheriff Gaines could possibly imagine. GOODLAND is directed and written by Josh Doke with a diamond cutter's eye, his small town crime drama is filled with multi-dimensional characters who all appear to be something on the outside but are far more complicated than what we see at first glance. Cinnamon Schultz plays her veteran Sheriff as a woman wrestling with sobriety and considering hitting the bottle again when she can't quite nail what Ergo is up to and how he figures into her frustrating investigation, but she's also a capable cop when under fire. Matt Weiss plays an outstanding anti-hero in Ergo, who is evidently more than just a photographer and whose purpose in the town of Goodland pits him against Sheriff Gaines. As his true identity is revealed he becomes a tragic hero whit a mission beyond anything Sheriff Gaines may have deduced. GOODLAND starts out as a crime mystery but it unravels into much more by focusing on character. Doke's script gives us two outstanding performances from Schultz and Weiss in this small-town thriller that just like its characters is more than meets the eye. Review by Enrrico Wood Lagonigro - Senior Curator Oaxaca FilmFest.

• Small town find, leads to way more than I could have imagined.

  johniejay2017-12-14

  I was very surprised, ( in a good way) by the way the story unfolded, sitting on the edge of my seat for most of the movie. Josh and the crew put together an excellent film with the actual feel of a small Kansas town. I can see Josh going very far in the industry. He has a unique way of writing a script and then translating it to film that gets you invested in the story and characters right away. The story then unfolds far more than I imagined and it was just a pleasure to watch. I would tell anybody to go see Goodland, if you have the chance. You will be very happy that you did.

• Excellent smalltown mystery

  leefoo-12018-12-23

  Not sure why some reviewers criticized the acting. It was really good. Nice mystery that keeps you guessing. I enjoyed it a lot. The ending was kind of sudden, but after a bit I figured it out.