The folks out at Lions Gate shipped me off a copy of Doc West, part of a steadily growing line of Westerns they’re bringing our way, and as is so often the case with Westerns, some are better than others. Doc West, our current one, will be one of the better ones I’ve seen in some time.

Doc West follows the title character as he roams the old West, seeking card games and cash as he goes. But West is hiding plenty of secrets, like his medical skill, his literate nature, his fondness for tea, and a dark secret. When he shuffles into one town, there are plenty of troubles riding with him. And as he helps fix them, he regains a little more of his humanity until the final moments. The ending will be a bit of a surprise, but the whole thing will be fun.

It’s kind of tough to call a Western “heartwarming”, but that’s about what you’ll get with Doc West. It’s fun, too–watching Doc West solve most any problem that comes along with sheer intellect is fun, though it’s a little disconcerting to watch a Western that features, at most, maybe half a dozen gunshots. It will be a good family Western, with plenty of laughs for most everybody and a couple of hair-raising incidents. If you’re one of people who likes to see gunfights by the score, then Doc West is not your kind of Western. But if you like laughs in your Western, then this is one you’ll want to pick up.

The cast does very well here, and most everything is believable and well done, with the exception of West’s first card-shuffling scene, which looks like it’s been edited somehow. I can’t tell just how, whether they brought in stunt hands or sped up the footage, but they did something to it and it’s clear as a bell.

Aside from that, however, the rest of Doc West takes lots of interesting twists, should keep your attention nicely and bring good solid laughs to your family viewing time. The Screenhead Ten Scale likes the way this is going and hands Doc West a thoroughly solid eight out of ten for being one of the better Westerns I’ve seen lately.