Young Guns (1988) ***

As much as anything, 1988's “Young Guns” was a vehicle to showcase a handful of handsome, young, up-and-coming actors. It also somehow manages to be entertaining as hell.

The film is a loose, and I do mean LOOSE, telling of the Lincoln County Cattle War. According to history, ranchers John Tunstall and Lawrence Murphy got into a tussle over government beef contracts in Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1878. Murphy's ranch hands wound up murdering Tunstall, setting off a war between the two factions. The most famous participant, fighting on the Tunstall side, was Billy the Kid.

In the film “Young Guns,” Tunstall is presented as a sympathetic figure. Acting as a surrogate father for the young men he hires to protect his ranch, he teaches them manners and educates them. His “boys” include Doc Scurlock (Kiefer Sutherland), Dick Brewer (Charlie Sheen), Chavez (Lou Diamond Phillips), and, as the film begins, a new boy, William Bonney (Emilio Estevez), who became known as Billy the Kid. After Tunstall is killed, the boys get themselves deputized and, calling themselves the Regulators, set out with warrants for the guilty men. Unfortunately, Billy turns out to be more of a shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of deputy, and after gunning down a few of Murphy's men, the boys find themselves in an all-out war, without any real legal standing. Murphy uses his political connections to get the law on his side, and the Regulators find themselves on the run, trying to extract what justice they can for Tunstall.

As a historical film, “Young Guns” may set a record for inaccuracies, but as an action film and a Western, it's entertaining enough. The plot is pretty elementary and sentimental, but the charm of this all-star cast will not be denied. Kiefer Sutherland is as good as ever as the earnest Doc. Charlie Sheen back then still seemed like a serious human being who had his shit together. Emelio Estevez steals the show, though, with his humorous, unhinged version of Billy the Kid. This is a movie that I honestly feel a little embarrassed to like, but you would have to have a heart of stone not to enjoy it.

3 stars out of 5