Review: 'Road to Paloma' takes up poor policing on reservation

“Road to Paloma,” a leisurely drama about family, brotherhood and Native American rights, plays out on the dusty highways and barren landscapes of an American West that seems frozen in time. Using that quality to powerful effect, the director, Jason Momoa, and his cinematographer, Brian Andrew Mendoza, shore up a simple plot with a richly atmospheric palette of coppery light and caramel sunsets that makes even urgent events seem almost soothing.

This laid-back attitude extends to Wolf (Mr. Momoa), a Native American who seems in no hurry to evade the dogged F.B.I. agent (Lance Henriksen) on his tail. Tooling along on his motorcycle, he hooks up with a scrappy musician (Robert Homer Mollohan) and pauses to dally with a sexy woman (Mr. Momoa’s wife, Lisa Bonet) in an Airstream. None of this is riveting, but the film’s loose naturalism and strong acting — Chris Browning, as a liaison between the F.B.I. and the reservation, is especially enjoyable — are slyly seductive.