...Sheriff Peavy is in the throes of almost overwhelming pressure; the people, whom he serves in the dusty frontier town of Contention City, have expressed a growing loss of faith in his abilities, saying that he is 'used up and burnt out'. The sheriff's gun-happy right hand man, Deputy Conley, has made no secret of his ambitions, in possibly replacing the sheriff, in view of his seemingly diminished stature...and even the town's mayor himself has expressed and encouraged such a prospective changing of hands. And in the midst of such personal turmoil, the sheriff...as well as the townspeople...are horrified and perplexed at a ever-increasing series of heinous and ruthless killings, which have targeted the town's womenfolk...
...pulling together his deductive resources and abilities, not to mention doing what he can, in reining in his impetuous and recklessly ambitious deputy...who by solving the crimes himself, only sees the devastating killings as opportunity, in justifying his proposed advancement...and keeping his upstart's attention on the case at hand...not his personal agenda, Sheriff Peavy unswervingly strives to solve the ensuing criminal doings...a last-ditch effort towards saving his own waning career, and yet, still a valiant & determined effort, which becomes even more enragingly personal, when his girlfriend becomes one of the victims, and it becomes progressively more evident that the perpetrator of the deaths, resides hidden in the town, itself...
...as intriguing, compelling & unconventional as this premise sounds, and is assuredly the stand-out part of the film, it is unfortunate that the actual execution of said premise, leaves much to be desired...though again, give an open-mindedness of the viewer, is forgivably flawed; it's one of those films that one can watch, and imagine how much better it could have been, given a more seasoned and capable cast (...though, the cast herein, does give their best, albeit on more rough-draft rehearsed level), as well as someone more adept at the editing process. The performers here, just don't seem to come off as naturally as the setting and the storyline demands of them; the dialogue appears to be forcibly rendered, and at times, there's even minute, though negligible delays in the interactive conversations between characters, in the sense that one character will say something, and there's a slightly distracting delay before the other character responds...once again, reflective of the rehearsal feel of the performances, as well as the shipshod editing. Some of the dialogue herein, is spoken in narrative...and oddly, it is presented by several of the characters...and even more oddly, it is spoken over intimate scenes of character interaction...characters, who are clearly saying something important to each other, but we...the viewers...wouldn't know what that might be, because the narrator is speaking over the dialogue...hopefully, saying something about what the characters might saying to each other...giving further evidence to the very odd method of editing, in these proceedings...
...but if one can forgive all of that, what remains at least respectably interesting, and makes "Sheriff of Contention" reasonably watchable, is the driven and compelling story, it's unusual murder-mystery approach, and coupled with the varied number of interesting and relatable characters (...or what could be much more interesting and relatable, given a more seasoned caliber of performers). The unconventional idea of a serial killer, in the Old West. The tired and almost broken sheriff (Angelo Ortega), who still has a few deductive tricks...almost Holmes-ish, pre-CSI-ish...up his sleeve, as far as unmasking a killer, whom might well be amongst the terrorized townsfolk. The reckless, trigger-happy deputy (Miguel Corona), who's self-servingly and underliningly striving for that ultimate feather in his cap, in order to make himself look good, make the sheriff look bad, ultimately assuming his position...and solving the crimes at hand, might just prove to be his ticket toward such a goal. The town's grizzled sawbones (Tom O'Mary, who does double duty, in performing in front of the camera, as well as behind the scenes, as the film's director), who has witnessed so much death and bloodshed in his profession, that he's pretty much numb and indifferent to it all...but that doesn't stop him from finding his daily meals, within the contents of a bottle. The questionably unscrupulous mayor (Nick Bonacker), trying to save his own lofty position by any means at his disposal, knowing full well that if the people lose faith in the town's established law enforcement, his post might be reconsidered, as well. The overall dusty & rustic, Old West feel of the setting and costumes, which materialistically, may well have taken up more than a good chunk of the production's meager budget. And an unpredictable, clever & well-carried-out twist ending, all of which once again might well make the overall substandardness of the performances, as well as the minimized, shot-on-video quality of the production itself, forgivable...
...in the end, one might think that the filmmakers here, had a lot of passion for the "Sheriff of Contention" script, and wanted very much to put out this interesting, albeit unconventional melding of traditional Old West savvy, and contemporary-ish serial killer menace into play, no matter how minimal the financial, material and talent resources, at their disposal. Did they accomplish this?? Eh, (...with purse lips, an eyebrow raised, and a satisfactory nod of the head)...this viewer...as the saying goes...would 'buy that for a dollar'.....
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