Blackthorn is a 2011 Western film directed by Mateo Gil and starring Sam Shepard, Eduardo Noriega, and Stephen Rea.

[3] Written by Miguel Barros,[4] the film is a fictional account of an aged Butch Cassidy living under the assumed name James Blackthorn in a secluded village in Bolivia 20 years after his disappearance in 1908.

[3] Twenty years after his disappearance in 1908, an aged Butch Cassidy (Sam Shepard), living under the assumed name James Blackthorn in a secluded village in Bolivia, decides to end his long exile and return to the United States after learning of the death of Etta Place.

He begs Blackthorn to save him and offers to share part of the $50,000 he stole from powerful Bolivian industrialist and mine owner Simón Patiño.

They make their way to Blackthorn's cabin, where the famous outlaw remembers his old friendships with the Sundance Kid and Etta Place, and how they escaped from Pinkerton Detective Mackinley (Stephen Rea).

For years Mackinley claimed that the two bandits killed at San Vincente were not Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and now he will finally be proven correct.

The soldiers continue with Mackinley until they reach a notoriously barren region where the army commander leaves the detective alone and without a horse, as punishment for helping Blackthorn escape.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Blackthorn invites comparisons to a classic Western – and survives, thanks largely to a charismatic performance by a well-chosen Sam Shepard".

[8] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating, the film received a score of 61 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

"[10] In her review for the Tribeca Film Festival, Genna Terranova wrote, "Mateo Gil makes a solid English-language debut with this sublimely shot and well-acted tale set in the remarkable landscapes of Bolivia.

Sam Shepard gives a riveting performance as the weathered, mysterious, and unsentimental Blackthorn, gracefully revitalizing the legend of history's favorite outlaw.