Aldred Montoya in Killshot

KillshotBeautiful Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne are placed in the Federal Witness Protection program after witnessing an "incident". Thinking they are at last safe, they are targeted by an experienced hit man and a psychopathic young upstart killer. The ensuing struggle will test Carmen to the limit.Montoya experiences working with pros in “Killshot”

By Kathryn MarmonWarriors, a chief, a bareback rider, a bounty hunter and the prey, are only a few of the characters Aldred Montoya has depicted in his blossoming career. In Killshot, an intense drama based on the novel by Elmo Leonard, Montoya plays Lionel Adam, a member of the same Indian tribe in Michigan as Mickey Rourke’s character, Armand (Blackbird) Degas, a contract assassin for the Toronto mafia.

Adam, unfortunately for him, is the first old acquaintance that Degas sees during a trip home to visit his grandmother. When Degas learns that she died a few months previously, he then considers returning to the reservation to fix up his grandmother’s home and live a quiet, honest lifestyle. Adam is less than enthusiastic about Degas’ intended return and tells him that he wouldn’t be happy living on the reservation.

That option is short lived as Degas is soon hijacked by a young punk who needs a getaway car. They end up running from the FBI and at the same time trying to find real estate agent Carmen Colson, played by Diane Lane, because she can identify Degas as being with his new sidekick, Richie Nix, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, when he vandalized her employer’s realty office.

While on the run, Degas and Nix return to the reservation to visit Lionel, who they take on a supposed duck hunt, and kill, because he can identify them. That was Montoya’s second scene in the film. His character was believable as a humble resident of their traditional homeland and as someone who, had he lived, might have been destined to become one of the tribe’s respected elders, as is the tradition of many Indian nations.Comment:  A couple of problems here. First, Mickey Rourke isn't an Indian. So what the hell is he doing playing an Indian character?

Second, the Indian as a professional killer is a stereotype--a modern version of the savage stereotype. It's been done many times before. No doubt Rourke's character is a disgruntled military veteran who decided to put his Vietnam training to use.

For more on the subject, see Friday, Tonto, Jacob Black, et al. and The Best Indian Movies.

Below:  Aldred Montoya in Killshot, I presume.