Lazy storytelling at its worst, so disposable it is likely to be forgotten before it even reaches the end.
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08/17/01
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American Outlaws (2001)
13
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:100
Fresh:13
Rotten:87
Average Rating:3.6/10
Consensus: With corny dialogue, revisionist history, anachronistic music, and a generically attractive cast, American Outlaws is a sanitized, teenybopper version of Jesse James.
Theatrical Release:Aug 17, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $11,888,985
Synopsis: Director Les Mayfield (BLUE STREAK) attempts to revamp the Western genre with yet another telling of the Jesse James story. This time around, James (Colin Farrell), older brother Frank (Gabriel... [More]
Starring: Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, Ali Larter, Gabriel Macht
Director: Les Mayfield
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Reviews for American Outlaws
It makes a viewer feel like an investor in one of the banks Jesse James hit.
08/17/01
The latest retelling of their saga is a lot like many other movies. A lot.
08/17/01
I'm not sure how dumb it was supposed to be, but laughing at it -- if not with it -- is a good enough way to spend 94 minutes.
08/17/01
Just never quickens your pulse.
08/17/01
There's no escaping the hackneyed plot or Mayfield's conventional hand.
08/17/01
Top CriticSo brainless it's a wonder it can find its own ending.
08/17/01
Top CriticA weak whinny of a horse opera tailor-made for those who can't quite locate Young Guns or The Long Riders in their video store.
08/17/01
Top CriticOl' Jesse James has sure seemed a lot of things in a lot of movies: crazy, heroic, desperate, psychotic, villain and victim. But dadburnit if he's ever been this cute.
08/17/01
Top CriticA guilty romp that doesn't take itself seriously.
08/17/01
The movie has a certain faith in itself and lack of pretension that gradually wins you over.
08/17/01
This film won't play far beyond the target audience.
08/17/01
This plot leaves ample room for viewers to sweat the small stuff, like whether Trevor Nunn's score is more Marines ad or deodorant commercial.
08/17/01
Top CriticThe script is juvenile and the interplay between the cast members is stale.
08/17/01
A youth-oriented action romp with minimal interest in the classic myth or real-life history.
08/17/01
Entertains the way a summer matinee movie should, with an agreeable blend of romance, action, humor, and a likeable cast.
08/17/01
As a western, American Outlaws is an utter failure. As the basis of a Mad TV parody, it is an unintentional hoot.
08/17/01
Top CriticA Jesse James bio so gloriously dumb, so vapidly MTV that when its gunslingers die, they probably go to Bootylicious Hill.
08/17/01
Silly, insipid and, most tragically, dishonest and revisionist.
08/17/01
Aspires to be a Young Guns for the Eminem generation. They deserve better.
08/17/01
Latest News for American Outlaws
June 05, 2001:
Another example of the 'old story, young cast' formula that has been more and more common in recent years. 
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June 05, 2001:
Working in the studio's favor is the casting of Farrell -- who went from zero to must have hot young thing in 2.7 seconds after starring in last year's Vietnam era drama Tigerland.
More...
June 05, 2001:
Red-hot Irishman Farrell stars as the young Jesse James, who leads his pretty-boy posse against a scheming railroad baron.
More...
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