The western that caused the scandal finally sees the light of day, and that’s not good news.

We’ve all heard the news and legal issues. “Rust” is the western that Alec Baldwin stars and produces, and it’s also the one when he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins because a live round was accidentally triggered from a prop gun. And the director Joel Souza was injured by the same round. Numerous lawsuits were filed against Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and as a result, she was found guilty and he was acquitted.

At least, “Rust” isn’t the first movie to have such a fatal accident. Previous examples include Vic Morrow and two kids dying in a. helicopter accident on the set of “Twilightzone the Movie” and Brandon Lee getting shot by a prop gun on the set of “The Crow.” It’s a shame that when movies are made with fatalities, you hope they’re good. “The Crow” with Lee is a cult classic that was everything the Bill Skarsgard version wasn’t.

“Rust” was finished and eventually found a release date in select theaters and online, which is today, but unfortunately, it’s not the western we all should be lauding. This is one of those movies where fatalities weren’t worth it. But we still should respect the deceased. I just got into a conversation with a friend of mine the other day about how westerns are few and far between, and I told him: “These days we get westerns in the independent circuit and they try to live up to the classics.” “Rust” doesn’t live up to John Wayne’s expectations or anyone’s expectations for that matter.

The story, set in the Old West of the 1880s , involves a young boy named Lucas (Patrick Scott McDermott), who accidentally shoots a rancher while hunting for a coyote on his property. He’s sentenced to death by hanging, but word gets out to the grandfather he never knew he had-the outlaw Harlan Rust (Baldwin)-who frees him. Their only recourse is to go to Mexico City, and their journey basically becomes a coming-of-age story for the boy. But it also becomes a dangerous journey regarding the bounty hunter Preacher Lane (Travis Fimmel) and another group of law enforcers led by Sherif Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins). Two of them have to fight in the mud like pigs.

I think it’s Fimmel and Hopkins who give the most interesting performances in the film, because they are able to ease into their characters without overselling themselves. And plus, they don’t have to deal with the main kid acting like a brat with poor sense of judgement. He doesn’t seem to know the first thing about prioritizing, and the only way for him to realize that is to have his grandfather show him the ropes.

And speaking of which, Baldwin has always been one of my favorite actors, whether anyone was against his political views or not. “Beetlejuice,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “The Departed,” “Blue Jasmine,” “30 Rock,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Mission: Impossible-Fallout,” and the list of movies and shows goes on and on. But in “Rust,” he’s unconvincing. He has the grey beard and dispositions, but he doesn’t deliver on the Southern accent. He could, at least, use some pointers from Jeff Bridges, but even as a producer, his performance here doesn’t rank with the giants.

I kind of knew “Rust” would be a mediocre movie, but I still had to see it anyway because of my affection for Baldwin in the past and to respect Hutchins. I, at least, owe it to her, and she makes the film better looking on the outside than on the inside.

In Select Theaters and Streaming on VOD