Taylor Sheridan has created several captivating Westerns for the big screen and small screen, most of them premiering in the past 10 years. His output is remarkable, and even though he prefers to make neo-Westerns, he has also gone the traditional route a few times. Everything that has come from the Sheridan kitchen is worth viewing, but as is always the case with any master artist’s body of work, the productions vary in quality.
Fans can always count on Sheridan to cook up something authentic because he lives (and has lived) a life close to what he depicts on the screen. He grew up on a ranch in Cranfills Gap, Texas, and was raised in Fort Worth, Texas. At the moment, he reportedly owns a home in Weatherford, Texas, as well as the iconic 6666 Ranch, a 350,000-acre property. So, how do Sheridan’s Western stories rank against each other?
9
‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ (2018)
In inexperienced hands, Sicario 2 could have been a gooey cartel action thriller. Instead, it’s a compelling, often touching neo-Western, thanks to Sheridan’s dialogue and director Stefano Solima’s measured approach to the material. The cast is also powerful. Almost everyone returns from the original movie, but as enjoyable as it is, there’s still something missing.
The plot, which follows an attempt to instigate a war between the major Mexican cartels after the narco-traffickers aid ISIS terrorists, seems far-fetched. And as hard as Solima tried, he failed to capture the environment as brilliantly as Denis Villeneuve did in the first film. Besides that, the absence of Emily Blunt’s FBI agent leaves a huge crater that the rest of the characters don’t quite manage to fill. She really ought to return for Sicario 3.
8
‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ (2023)
Initially titled 1883: Bass Reeves, Lawmen: Bass Reeves was meant to be a Yellowstone spinoff. It evolved into a standalone show, and Sheridan intended to make it an anthology about various lawmen. Instead, we’ve only gotten the story of Bass Reeves (portrayed by David Oyelowo), one of the first black Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River who made over 3000 arrests in his lifetime.
The show paints a perfect picture of an era where the oppressed have become jaded, and the oppressors have become desensitized to others’ pain. The show really belongs to Oyelowo, who brings off a tricky portrayal of a fearless man who gradually discovers his best self in the midst of racism and bureaucracy. However, the rest of the cast doesn’t quite shine, and even when placed on the track of slow-burning shows, Lawmen: Bass Reeves still drags.
7
‘Yellowstone’ (2018 – 2014)
This penetrating study of human greed and ambition is most notable thanks to Kevin Costner’s Emmy-worthy (although he was never nominated) turn as John Dutton III, who channels egotism, intelligence, frustration, and vulnerability without viewers ever hearing the gears shift. The twists are also great, and the rest of the characters are likable. However, even though Yellowstone is the most popular Taylor Sheridan show, it has several flaws.
Yellowstone is too melodramatic, and Quentin Tarantino wasn’t wrong when he called it soap opera. Sheridan reportedly pitched it as “The Godfather in Montana.” While it’s an exciting show full of conflict, you always feel that the story be better. The Duttons never suffer serious consequences for their actions, and the plot often feels repetitive, with a new powerful figure always trying to take over the land.
6
‘1923’ (2022 – 2025)
1923 introduces Yellowstone fans to an earlier generation of the Duttons, who have bigger problems than just land-related conflict. The cracks have widened because of Prohibition, severe drought, and the early stages of the Great Depression. No one is oblivious to the serious upheaval going on, but there is plenty of fun here, too, including great performances by Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford in the lead roles.
The show delivers a powerful, unflinching portrait of a family dealing with challenges in their own way. The Duttons are aging poster children for the pitfalls of brilliance and ambition, exacerbated by a permanent sadness that slowly eats away at them. Regrettably, 1923 falls off the rails in Season 2, and the blame lies in a controversial storyline involving Timothy Dalton’s villain.
5
‘Wind River’ (2017)
Wind River came from the activism chamber of Sheridan’s heart. He chose to make the film to raise awareness of the issue of the high number of Indigenous women who are sexually assaulted and killed, both on and off reservations. The neo-Western crime drama stars Jeremy Renner (one of the few actors who appear in more than one Sheridan project) and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent, as they try to solve the murder of an Indigenous American woman on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.
The meticulously made movie excels by skillfully mixing layered dialogue with chilling anticipation and ominous psychodrama. Sheridan evokes Hitchcock with clever twists and subtly played themes of brutality and paranoia. Even better, Wind River calls out unfair laws and bureaucracy in law enforcement. For example, the medical drama initially refuses to classify the death as a homicide, preventing the protagonists from getting extra help and resources from their superiors. Overall, it’s a heartbreaking film, but one that never wastes a minute.
4
‘Landman’ (2024 – present)
“Previously on Laaaaandmaaaan! “ Landman is arguably Taylor Sheridan’s most enjoyable show, packing in everything from office politics to teen drama to oil rig technicalities. The only reason it isn’t higher up in the list is because of an inconsistent second season. Otherwise, this tale of the Texas landman Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) juggling work and family is worth following along with.
Thornton turns in a powerful, appropriately macho performance, and Ali Larter is bewitching as his wistful spouse Angela, whose placid exterior appears to veil hidden motives. Does anyone in the world love video calls more than her? Among the supporting cast, Andy Garcia also stands out as a cartel-linked figure who is eager to go legit. And the cinematography is as excellent as you would expect from a show like this.
3
‘Sicario’ (2015)
Despite leaving some plot details to float freely in our imagination, Taylor Sheridan won international acclaim for this bloody, fast-paced film, which benefits from its mystical vibe and equator-style cinematography. Sicario is about a joint task force’s mission to flush out and apprehend a cartel lieutenant currently operating and hiding in the United States.
While the neo-Western crime drama received Osacr nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing at the Oscars, several of the stars should have gotten acting nominations too, especially Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt. Much credit also goes to Denis Villeneuve for his work as a director. Few Hollywood filmmakers know how to make a thought-provoking yet action-packed film better than him.
2
‘1883’ (2021)
Chronologically, 1883 is the first show in the Yellowstone franchise, detailing how the Dutton family came to possess the land that became the Yellowstone Ranch. Although not as star-studded as Sheridan’s other works, the show feels like a proper traditional Western, weaving in familiar plots about the Reconstruction Era, cattle trade, and Comanche conflicts.
Sheridan’s beautiful and brutal miniseries is also a poetic rumination on the mysteries of family and shared emotional bonds, and, thanks to its length, it’s mostly flawless. While some say that Sheridan writes better scripts when the story isn’t too long, this proves that argument. 1883 is also pleasing to the eyes and ears. It was nominated for two Primetime Creative Emmys for cinematography and music composition.
1
‘Hell or High Water’ (2016)
Hell or High Water is a complete neo-Western, and it’s likely to entertain even the anti-Sheridan gang. The film uses a cat-and-mouse template, with the games beginning after two brothers (portrayed by Chris Pine and Ben Forster) decide to rob banks to prevent foreclosure on their land. Hot on their tail is a lawman played by Jeff Bridges, who earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Fundamentally, the Best Picture-nominated film is about the conflict between the opposing yet powerful forces that often afflict human consciousness – the need for peace and stability against the need to hold on to what we are familiar with. While the brothers are criminals, audiences will find it easy to understand their plight and back their mission. Great films should also have plenty of iconic moments, and Hell or High Water has several of them, including a scene where the lawman tries to reason with one of the brothers. It might be a crime for the brothers to rob banks, but it’s a greater crime for anyone to miss this film.
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