Cain the Cowboy Conman
Ever since he decided he didn't want to be part of Lincoln's forces Shea McCall (Dean Cain) has never stopped in one place too long, travelling from town to town making his way by gambling. It is how he comes to be part owner of a ranch and getting under the skin of BJ Stoker (James Tupper), the owner of the other half who has a thing for Liz Calhoun (Allison Hossack) the widow who owns the homestead next door. But whilst Shea enjoys winding BJ up with his flirtations with the pretty Liz he finds himself sticking around longer than he anticipated when the ranch comes under attack from some Mexican bandits and the bickering has to stop for them to work together.
Whilst some might find Dean Cain an annoying and limited actor I actually enjoy his movies for the simple reason you know what you will be getting; that Cain smile, the Cain charm and more often than not Cain playing a nice guy hero. It is what you get in "The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger" with Cain playing the hustler Shea McCall with that devilish glint his eye. The thing is that "The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger" heavily relies on Cain's trademark appeal and sadly Dean Cain doing devilish charmer can only carry the movie so far.
That is the problem with "The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger" as when you get beyond Dean Cain's starring role you have a weak storyline surrounding bandits invading the land which only really crops up during the second half once the first half has delivered the usual. What I mean by the usual is the antagonistic humour of Shea and BJ annoying each other, Shea having a short fight with one of the ranch hands who towers over him and so on but nothing out of the ordinary. Truth is that whilst none of what "The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger" offers is a negative there is nothing to lift this above being just an okay wet afternoon distraction.
What this all boils down to is that "The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger" is okay if you all want is some light hearted Dean Cain fun. But if you hope for anything more, anything closer to a true western you are likely to be heavily disappointed.
