Stars of the Lawless Frontier
- Tagline
- Justice isn’t just black and white in the grey expanse of space.
- Description
- In ‘Stars of the Lawless Frontier,’ a mockumentary set in the Space Age, follow the cosmic tales of a Native American cowboy and a high-flying entrepreneur as they navigate the starry wilderness of justice. Elliot Pastry embodies the stoic gunslinger turned marshal, while Benicio Del Tofurkey plays the crafty CEO looking to expand his empire righteously - or perhaps not. Under the pessimistic vision of director Tim Burdton, this space saga uncovers the murky grey area between right and wrong, hero and villain, rule and exception. Robin Heron ties the narrative together, questioning whether the stars are just too vast for any law to hold. Saddle up for a space rodeo where the badges are as shiny as the constellations, but the morals are as murky as the dark side of the moon.
- MpaaRating
- PG
- PopularityScore
- 3.00
- ReleaseDate
- 05/18/2023
- Genre
- Mockumentary
- Director(s)
- Cast
Critic Reviews
4.50
With 'Stars of the Lawless Frontier,' what could have been a galactic romp through moral ambiguity ends up a lost opportunity adrift in the vacuum of space. The film's tagline, 'Justice isn’t just black and white in the grey expanse of space,' offers a promise of depth that the movie itself fails to deliver. Although Elliot Pastry's rendition of a stoic gunslinger turned marshal adds a shimmer of merit, and Benicio Del Tofurkey's portrayal of the entrepreneur-cum-imperialist flickers with potential, these performances are not enough to salvage the bewildering narrative set out by Tim Burdton. The mockumentary style feels half-baked, a mere quirk rather than a tool to enhance the story. It's as if the poignant commentary on law and morality lost its way among the stars. Burdton's pessimistic vision, rather than presenting a challenging dichotomy of hero and villain, instead leaves the audience floating in ambiguity without a tether. Robin Heron's attempt to bind the story only emphasizes the film's identity crisis. In its pursuit to question whether the vastness of space could ever be tamed by law, the film forgets to harness its own narrative, succumbing to the lawlessness of its creative frontier. One leaves the theater wondering if there was ever any law to the filmmaking here, or just a collection of space dust and cowboy cliches.