Godless (2017)

Netflix's latest western series Godless is created by Scott Frank, he who wrote the well-received Get Shorty and Logan amongst others. At heart it is a tale of an estrangement between (adoptive) father and son, although there are other sub-plots, notably interracial and lesbian romances. An almost-unrecognisable and bewhiskered Jeff Daniels uncharacteristically plays a menacing outlaw, whose fully-dimensioned character ultimately steals the show, although there is no shortage of rounded personalities elsewhere. The series includes some striking cinematography, and reveals something of the changing sensibilities of the New Hollywood with its equal treatment of minorities, right down to the inclusion of a mining town made up mostly of women. The killer-with-a-heart hero is played well by English actor Jack O'Connell, clearly on his way up - although arguably the role would have benefited more from the brooding presence of someone like Tom Hardy, since with his tortured back ground he has a lot to brood about. At only seven episodes there is little padding and, all in all, the results are very recommendable - even if, understandably, the show saves the (well done) principal shoot-out to the end. Genre fans will also be delighted to see visual reference to Once Upon a Time in the West, Django, etc