It didn’t take long for Colin Farrell to become a star, with the actor leaping from virtual unknown to recognizable and hugely in-demand talent within a very short space of time.
After a couple of recurring TV parts in his native Ireland and a pair of small supporting roles in The War Zone and Ordinary Decent Criminal in 1999 and 2000, it was Joel Schumacher’s war drama Tigerland that served as Farrell’s breakout performance, winning strong notices for his riveting central turn as Private Roland Bozz.
From there he was off to the races, gaining mainstream attention for his smarmy antagonist in Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise’s Minority Report, before going on to appear in box office chart-toppers Phone Booth, The Recruit, Daredevil and S.W.A.T. Prior to that hot streak of success, though, Farrell took top billing in 2001’s revisionist alt-history Western American Outlaws, which has just been added to the Netflix library.
Directed by the Miracle on 34th Street remake and Flubber‘s Wes Mayfield, the story follows infamous Confederate soldiers Jesse and Frank James, who return home to learn that their mother has been murdered, causing them to set out on a revenge-fuelled string of robberies as they try and stay one step ahead of Timothy Dalton’s Allan Pinkerton, founder of the titular national detective agency.
It’s a neat concept, but the execution was way off, and American Outlaws ended up getting panned by critics and flopping at the box office, bringing in just over $13 million against a $35 million budget. It’s a cult curio from the beginning stages of Colin Farrell‘s career, though, which might be enough to draw in some subscribers eager to see one of his earliest roles.
