Given its title, one might assume 2024's The Last Stop in Yuma County delivers a Western. Instead, it gives us a crime thriller.

A traveling knife salesman (Jim Cummings) gets stuck at a service area in a remote part of Arizona as he waits for a fuel truck to arrive. He bides his time at a diner, where he meets married waitress Charlotte (Sierra McCormick).

As the salesman settles in, bankrobbers Travis (Nicholas Logan) and Beau (Richard Brake) arrive at the restaurant. This eventually leads to a potentially deadly hostage situation.

I admit I usually find it pretentious when movies avoid proper names for lead characters. While it occasionally makes sense for the project - like the "Man with No Name" from those Sergio Leone Westerns - it mostly comes across as too precious for my liking.

Can I find any reason it becomes "necessary" to never identify our protagonist in Stop? Not really, but despite my typical disdain for this tactic, it doesn’t hurt the film.

It helps that pretty much everything else about Stop works pretty well. The debut feature from Francis Galluppi, Stop can wear its influences on its sleeve but it still becomes its own entity.

Of course, movie buffs will recognize that the basic plot of Stop resembles that of 1936’s Petrified Forest. Humphrey Bogart’s breakout flick, that one also focuses on violent gangsters who take hostages at a remote Arizona diner.

During one of the disc’s three commentaries, Galluppi indicates that he never saw Forest before he wrote Stop. I believe him, though I admit the coincidences seem tough to swallow.

Whether or not Stop used Forest as its template, it shows other influences. In particular, the film comes across with a vibe that mixes Tarantino and the Coen brothers.

Despite these nods toward those filmmakers, Stop manages to stand on its own. It never feels self-conscious and it turns into an effective mix of thriller and comedy without the sense that it tries to copy other flicks or directors.

Indeed, Stop comes with a frisky sense of self-awareness. Galluppi understands the genre in which he works and he toys with it in a satisfying manner.

Stop largely sticks with thriller basics, though it comes at them from a playful manner. Galluppi tosses out enough humor and twists to allow the movie to become a dark romp,

In the end, I can’t call Stop the most original film, but it nonetheless becomes a fun ride. It teases viewer expectations and delivers a lively little tale.

Note that although Stop seems to take place in the 1970s, the film comes with a hint that it actually comes set in the early 1990s.

The Last Stop in Yuma County appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, this was an appealing transfer.

Sharpness looked strong most of the time. Some wider elements seemed a little tentative, but the image usually gave us a tight, well-defined image.

Jagged edges and moiré effects remained absent, while edge haloes also failed to appear. Print flaws stayed absent as well.

Because much of the film took place in the arid US Southwest, Stop opted for an amber/orange tone as well as some teal. These tones seemed predictable, but they worked fine within the movie’s design parameters and showed good delineation.

Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity and smoothness. I thought this was a consistently strong image.

Though not especially ambitious, I also felt pleased with the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. This mostly meant atmospheric material, but the mix kicked to life when appropriate.

That largely occurred during the smattering of violent scenes, as those used the spectrum well. Music showed nice stereo presence.

Audio quality always satisfied. Music was dynamic and full, and effects followed suit, so those components came across as accurate and well-developed.

Speech seemed distinctive and crisp, without edginess or other issues. The soundtrack suited the story.

Extras open with three separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from writer/director Francis Galluppi and actors Jim Cummings and Jocelin Donahue. All three sit together for a running, screen-specific piece that inevitably focuses on cast and performances but also gets into sets/locations and a mix of production elements.

On the positive side, the participants interact in an easy and engaging manner. They bring some good notes about the shoot.

On the negative side, the track gets less informative as it goes and tends toward too much happy talk. This adds up to a generally likable but inconsistent discussion.

For the second commentary, we hear from Galluppi and executive producer James Claeys. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific chat about subjects similar to those of the actor track, though with more of an observational/anecdotal vibe.

This means a different perspective than the prior discussion, and it works pretty well. The commentary offers a breezy tone and enough new information to merit a listen.

Finally, we get a commentary from Galluppi and cinematographer Mac Fisken. Both sit together for their running, screen-specific discussion of domains also a lot like those from the other tracks, but with a stronger focus on technical domains.

This also delivers a particular perspective that means we get a nice array of new thoughts. Despite some inevitable redundancy, the Galluppi/Fisken chat fares nicely.

A Making of featurette lasts eight minutes, 28 seconds. It offers info from Galluppi, Claeys, Cummings, Donahue, Fisken, and actors Faizon Love, Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan.

The program looks at the project’s roots and development, budgetary issues, sets and locations, and effects. While we find those remarks, we mostly find shots from the production. It’s too short to tell us much but it offers some interesting glimpses of the shoot.

The disc opens with ads for Sting, Monolith and A Creature Was Stirring. We also find the trailer for Stop.

While it wears a few too many influences on its sleeve, The Last Stop in Yuma County nonetheless becomes a fairly good little thriller. It certainly acts as a strong debut effort from writer/director Francis Galluppi and shows real filmmaking promise. The Blu-ray comes with solid picture and audio as well as a bunch of commentaries. Expect a better than average suspense flick.