While maintaining a low budget, the film has been noted for its "wholesome" yet gritty approach to the genre, featuring:
: The film centers on the idea of a "reckoning"—facing up to what you have done and what you failed to do during the war.
: A major narrative engine is the relationship between John and his son, Cal ( Steven R. McQueen ), a Federal Marshal whose "by-the-book" approach often clashes with his father’s rougher, veteran instincts.