Film

Thomasine & Bushrod

Name: Thomasine & Bushrod
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Western
Released: 1974
Cast: Max Julien, Vonetta McGee, George Murdock, Glynn Turman, Juanita Moore

Crime

A 1974 blaxploitation Western following two Black outlaws who rob from the wealthy and redistribute to the dispossessed across the Jim Crow South. It's stylish, propulsive, and genuinely romantic—less interested in gunslinging heroics than in the couple's defiant partnership and the thrills of outsmarting their pursuers. For viewers hungry for Black action cinema that rewrites the Western's moral geography.

If you liked this

Shaft1971

The template for Black action cinema: a private detective navigating 1970s Harlem with style, attitude, and a willingness to take on corrupt power. Isaac Hayes' score is iconic. Pam Grier is unforgettable.

But The plot is fairly straightforward crime procedural; it can feel more vibe than narrative. Some sexual content has aged awkwardly.

Foxy Brown1974

Pam Grier at peak charisma, playing a woman who infiltrates a criminal empire to avenge her boyfriend's murder. The action is inventive, the dialogue crackling, and Grier commands every frame with total conviction.

But The sexual violence in the story is brutal and uncomfortable. It's exploitation cinema by design, which means it can feel gratuitous even when thematically justified.

The Ballad of Little Jo1993

A revisionist Western about a woman who passes as a man to survive on the frontier. It's thoughtfully made, beautifully shot in the actual landscape, and finds genuine pathos and humour in its premise without winking at the audience.

But It's quieter and slower than Thomasine & Bushrod—more meditation than adventure. The period detail sometimes overshadows momentum.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Thomasine & Bushrod

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Xtreme2021

Both centre robbing the powerful and redistribute wealth, but Xtreme makes the theft itself—the physical act, the skill—the entire point of the film. It shares Thomasine & Bushrod's moral clarity about theft as resistance.

A Kenyan parkour action film where two young thieves execute an impossible heist across Nairobi. It's electrifying and genuinely inventive in its use of urban landscape as both setting and weapon. The energy is infectious.

But It's a low-budget production with a thin plot and uneven acting. The dialogue can feel clunky. You watch it for the movement, not the character development.

Bandolero!1968

Two outlaw brothers (James Stewart and Dean Martin) prey on the wealthy and powerful in Mexico. It's a proper Western with real action, romantic tension, and surprisingly political overtones about class and loyalty.

But It's a studio Western with a different sensibility—less funk, more traditional. The tone can feel uneven.

Coffy1973

Pam Grier wages a one-woman war against drug dealers who destroyed her sister. It's outrageous, propulsive, funny, and features some of the most inventive action beats in 70s cinema. Pure adrenaline.

But The plot is deliberately lurid and the violence graphic. It prioritizes spectacle over coherence; plot holes are legion.

Johnny Guitar1954

An eccentric Western where a woman saloon owner and a female ranch owner face off against a lynch mob. It's visually striking, morally inverted, and frankly weird in ways that still feel radical.

But It's deliberately artificial and stylized rather than realistic. For some viewers, the theatrical approach will feel mannered and slow.

Posse1993

A Black cavalry unit in the 1880s takes on corrupt white power structures across the frontier. It's energetic, explicitly political, and recasts the Western hero as someone fighting systemic injustice rather than just individual villains.

But The action occasionally overwhelms the character work. The film's reach sometimes exceeds its grasp in the third act.

Come and See1985

A devastating portrayal of a boy soldier during WWII. It's visually and aurally overwhelming, morally uncompromising, and stays with you long after it ends. One of cinema's great anti-war statements.

But It is genuinely traumatic to watch. The violence and suffering are unrelenting, and there is no catharsis or comfort offered.

They Live by Night1949

Two young criminals try to build a life together while hunted by the law. It's tender, noir-influenced, and surprisingly sympathetic to outsiders. Nicholas Ray's direction is elegant and compassionate.

But It's a 1940s film—deliberately paced and restrained. The action is minimal; the power is in mood and character.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly1966

Both are Westerns where the real action is interior—the con, the scheme, the outsmarting. But Leone makes the landscape itself a character, cosmic and indifferent. Thomasine & Bushrod is intimate and human by comparison.

Three gunslingers hunt for buried Confederate gold during the Civil War. Sergio Leone's operatic direction, Ennio Morricone's immortal score, and Clint Eastwood's iconic performance make this the Western that rewrote the genre.

But The restored version runs 161 minutes and the pacing is deliberate. It's a monument, not a rush. Some find it glacial.

Raya and the Last Dragon2021

Like Thomasine & Bushrod, it's fundamentally about two people of different worlds learning to trust and depend on each other while outrunning authority and outsmarting opponents. Both films put the relationship—not the action—at the centre.

An animated Southeast Asian-inspired fantasy about a con woman and a dragon's last survivor working together to save the world. It's visually gorgeous, funny, and builds genuine stakes around trust and partnership.

But It's a Disney film aimed at children. For some adults, the emotional beats will feel designed rather than earned. The animation, while beautiful, has the polish that some find sterile.