Prime Video's 13-Hour Cop Thriller Is Western Noir At Its Very Best
Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions.
Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston.
Prime Video’s 13-hour cop thriller blends brutal violence, haunting atmosphere, and Western noir into one of television’s most unsettling slow burns. Released in 2019, this star-studded yet forgotten Prime Video original series earned a strong 72% Rotten Tomatoes score and was co-created and fully directed by one of the 21st century's most stylistic filmmakers. Even seven years after its debut, it remains one of the very best examples of the modern Western noir genre on streaming today, similar to Dark Winds, The Lowdown, and Deadwood.
Too Old to Die Young stars Miles Teller in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 13-hour Prime Video crime thriller, blending neo-noir elements with modern Western grit. Refn, best known for his visually stunning and thematically dark movies such as Drive, The Neon Demon, and the Pusher trilogy, made his TV streaming debut with Too Old to Die Young. The 10-part psychological crime thriller series stands as a renowned cult classic thanks to its neon-soaked cinematography, moody synth-fueled atmosphere, and outstanding performances by Teller, Cristina Rodlo, John Hawkes, and Jena Malone. While it is worth watching, viewers should be aware that it's the ultimate slow burn.
Too Old To Die Young Is An Underrated Example Of Western Noir
Too Old to Die Young is often left out of the conversation when it comes to peak Western noir, but it truly does exemplify some of the best qualities of the classic genre. Although the series begins on the dark streets of Los Angeles, it travels to the New Mexican desert and deals with violent conflicts with the Mexican cartel. While Teller's protagonist, Martin Jones, is a Los Angeles police officer, he chooses to operate outside of the law and falls into a life of organized crime, often serving as a self-made vigilante. What's more, he moves as a modern-day gunslinger with moral complexity, sinking into a path of corruption by enforcing his own signature brand of justice.
Too Old to Die Young also leans into classic Western genre tropes with its slow-burn approach, often letting tension brew with long breaks between dialogue and a lingering camera that doesn't rely on the flashy editing seen in many an action thriller. The series gives a Western feel with its broad landscapes, but stays true to its neo-noir core thanks to Refn's inimitable visual style, employing deep shadows and high contrast with expert lighting and production design. All these elements make Too Old to Die Young a Western noir at heart, even though it appears to be a more straightforward crime thriller on the surface.
Too Old To Die Young Is Great, But Too Grim To Watch Twice
Despite its merits, Too Old to Die Young is considered by most to be a rewarding yet somewhat difficult series to binge, especially because of its relentlessly grim tone. As aforementioned, the series is the ultimate slow burn, requiring viewers to reach the limits of their patience to get the most out of the series. If you're used to lightning-fast dialogue and action at every turn, you may find Too Old to Die Young to be rather sluggish compared to other crime thrillers like MobLand, Reacher, and Mayor of Kingstown. Interestingly, the series challenges the viewer to maintain focus but eases the difficulty with its hypnotic atmosphere, which some would say is the series' biggest draw.
Too Old to Die Young's premise is intriguing as well, centering on Martin's double life as a cop and a contract killer. Martin carries a Dexter-like moral complex, hunting down those he views as disgraces to the law and society. John Hawkes plays a key role as an FBI agent who recruits Martin to kill various criminals and sex traffickers, which brings about some of the most explicit scenes full of extreme violence. Too Old to Die Young may not be the easiest show on Prime Video to binge, but it does represent some of the best Western noir filmmaking available on the platform and deserves to be seen at least once.
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