Bolstered by an effortless performance from former bit-part veteran Richard Farnsworth, director Phillip Borsos's The Grey Fox is a rich, laconic elegy to Hollywood's Old West. Farnsworth's Bill Miner -- a real-life stagecoach robber released from a lengthy prison stay into a completely different world -- could have been a source of easy laughs, as in 1986's distressingly similar fish-out-of-water comedy Tough Guys. But Borsos and writer John Hunter are too reverent of old Westerns for cheap shots. Instead of being an ironic take on the genre, The Grey Fox is an affectionate tribute to movie history: when Miner decides to resume a life of crime, it's because he was inspired by a screening of The Great Train Robbery. In keeping with the film's mood, cinematographer Frank Tidy gives the rainy Pacific Northwest locales an otherworldly glow. Ultimately, it's Farnsworth's relaxed, observant interpretation of Miner that gives the film an enduring quality; the attention the actor garnered in this film would assure him quality roles for the rest of his career.