By Joe Leydon. Film Critic. The relatively brief final sequence in the film is obviously a last-minute addition to a completed feature, but never mind: Dramatically and emotionally satisfying, the scene is a welcome and fitting capper for a story that inarguably earns its happy ending.
Popular on Variety. Early on, we learn Peltier was brutally mistreated and forcefully assimilated in a government-run Indian residential boarding school during his youth, and later radicalized by such protests as the occupation of Alcatraz by Native American activists.
Wilson had long waged campaigns of terror against AIM activists and anyone else who crossed him. He is shown admitting as much in a brief, chilling news clip here. But the bloodshed received very little national attention until the night in when two FBI agents, Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Coler, drove onto the reservation, allegedly following a suspect. But only Peltier was convicted, and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in federal prison.
The jury clearly believed that, with so much GOON violence going on, AIM activists likely would feel entitled to shoot first and ask questions later if any strangers appeared unannounced on their land.
Ever since his conviction, Peltier has been a houseguest of the federal prison system. The final moments might make you smile, or maybe even weep. Home Film Reviews. Jan 27, pm PT. By Joe Leydon Plus Icon.
