Strong Cast, Story Pull ‘Purgatory’ Trigger

Advance billing for TNT’s “Purgatory” proclaims, “It’s not your ordinary damned western.”

No argument here. An old-fashioned shoot-’em-up with a mystical kick, this clever and quite entertaining fantasy squarely hits the bull’s-eye as it gallops into “The Twilight Zone” terrain. And not to keep viewers in the dark, but the less one knows going in, the more fun this cable film can be. Granted, the conventional opening may not hook casual observers, but patience pays off in the end.

Reliable Eric Roberts plays Blackjack, the ruthless ringleader of bank-robbing outlaws. How bad is Blackjack? Rather than put a bleeding brother out of his misery, this greedy gunslinger declares, “I can’t spare the bullet,” then turns his back.

A short ride leads to Refuge, a friendly town with no telegraph, no newspaper, no weapons and scant contact with the outside world. Oh, and one curious little rule: no cursing.

Leave it to Sonny (Brad Rowe), a decent farm boy with a love of dime novels, to gradually put everything into perspective. Standing out like a sore thumb in this wild bunch, Sonny solves the secret shared by the town’s sensible sheriff (Sam Shepard), his slow-burning deputy (Donnie Wahlberg) and ill-tempered doctor (Randy Quaid).

Who are these people and why are they off the beaten path? Are they, as one booze-swilling cowboy suggests, a group of “Bible thumpers” and “cheek turners”?

The amusing answer should satisfy anyone drawn to showdown-driven westerns, thanks to director Uli Edel (“Last Exit to Brooklyn”), who deftly sustains the mystery in the script peppered with tough dialogue by Gordon Dawson.

Meanwhile, the crack cast is another asset as Roberts, Shepard, Quaid and the lesser-known Rowe give us characters to be rooted for or hissed off the screen.

Suffice it to say that when the gun smoke clears, it’s two bullets up for “Purgatory.”

* “Purgatory” airs Sunday at 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight on TNT. The network has rated it TV-14 as it contains material that some parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age.