War Party

On the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Milk River, the town of Binger, Montana stages a reenactment, with locals and Native Americans from the reservation engaging in mock battle. Because of a private vendetta, one of the young Blackfoot boys is shot, and his friend Sonny (Billy Wirth) responds by burying a hatchet in the killer's skull. Thus does a publicity stunt turn into a bloodbath. Sonny, along with his buddy Skitty (Kevin Dillon) and a couple of others, head for the wide open plains of the reservation. At first, the boys must fight a redneck posse, but later, as the media gets a whiff of what's going down, the National Guard is brought in. On the plus side, War Party is a beautifully photographed film with a lush guitar score by Chaz Jankel. On the minus side, however, the film is not only very violent, but appears to use the topic of racism as a cover for what is basically a cowboys and indians shoot-em-up. On balance, the negative aspects outweigh the pluses, and therefore the film is not recommended. (R. Pitman)