Category Archives: Western

True History of the Kelly Gang

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True History of the Kelly Gang                    4 stars

Although violent in the extreme, I recommend seeing this modern telling of the story of Ned Kelly, the Irish Catholic outlaw who terrorized Australia in the late 1800’s. George Mackay of 1917 plays the violent adult Ned to perfection as we follow his very troubled life running afoul of authorities (all British) in the Australian outback. The filming of a desolate landscape contributes to the bleak outlook that director Justin Kurzel wants to convey. The varied score that includes punk rock pieces gives the movie a surrealistic feeling. This is a violent, brutal and bloody film that will put many viewers off, but it is necessary to tell what life was like for the Irish lower class under British rule. The first part of the movie shows Ned Kelly as a young boy growing up dirt poor with a drunk Irish father and a foul mouthed mother (Essie Davis of Babadook). The young Ned has encounters with cruel individuals that will form his character including Sgt. O’Neil (Charlie Hunnan) and the thief Harry Power (Russell Crowe). Crowe’s time on screen is short so it is almost criminal that he gets top casting credit while the boy playing Kelly, who is on screen much longer is barely mentioned. Other notable actors playing scoundrels are Nicolas Hoult as a British cop who teasingly alternates between being Kelly’s friend and trying to bring him down, and Marlon Williams as George King, an American who seeks to take advantage of the poor Kelly family. Thomasin McKenzie of Lost Girls and Jojo Rabbit portrays Kelly’s love and mother of his daughter. Besides the violence, there is a theme of cross dressing as the Kelly gang wears flowing dresses while committing their crimes, a practice meant to instill fear in their victims apparently originating in Ireland. None of the characters have any redeeming features, all contributing to the lawless environment they find themselves in. The film has a very violent shootout scene to end on featuring strobe lighting and a seemingly endless supply of blood. This film is not for everyone, but a good one for lovers of Westerns. I strongly advise that you see the movie with closed captions as I find much of the Australian dialect is difficult to understand.

News of the World

News of the World                           3 ½ stars

The man who directed the Jason Bourne films and Captain Phillips, Paul Greengrass brought us the film adaptation of News of the World last year, working again with Tom Hanks who stars again as a true to life hero. Hanks is well cast as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a former Confederate officer who, in the years since the Civil War has become a traveling reader, who brings stories of the outside world to the townsfolk of Texas towns who are willing to listen. The animosity present during the war has not been lost and there are plenty of expressions of intolerance in this part of the country and with it the accompanying violence. Kidd happens upon a lost ten year old girl on his journey who knows no English as she was captured by the Kiowa years earlier and only thinks of herself as an Indian. She is an orphan twice, having lost her German immigrant family and then her Kiowa family. It then becomes Kidd’s reluctant responsibility to take her to her only known relatives who live hundreds of miles away. Much of the movie centers on the moments when the unlikely pair get to know each other despite the great language barrier between them, but then there are the incidents of terror when Kidd becomes protector from the unsavory inhabitants of this savage world. The movie is aided by some impressive cinematography of the Texas landscape (actually filmed in New Mexico), a good score as well as the supporting cast that includes Mare Winningham, Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel. It is a bit on the long side with some slow stretches. It is mainly the performances of Hanks and the girl (Helena Zengal) that will keep your attention. News of the World has earned four Academy Awards nominations that include Original Score, Best Sound, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.

The Power of the Dog

The Power of the Dog     4 ½ stars

Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog is classified as a Western but is unlike any western that I can remember. There is no gunplay or fist fighting, but there is plenty of conflict and tension in this slow moving drama set on a cattle ranch in 1925 Montana. Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), one of two brothers operating the extravagant family ranch, is a swaggering, commanding cowboy who demands as audience. When he sees vulnerabilities in others, he takes advantage of them including his own brother George (Jesse Plemons) who he berates, referring to him as Fatso. Phil’s character is established when the ranchers come across the lonely widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) at a nearby restaurant and Phil sees his chance to berate the young, effeminate teenager. George sees the beautiful qualities in Rose and soon marries her and makes her the woman of the ranch. We all have come across people like Phil before. He is the bully, who despite being highly intelligent, seeks gratification by attacking others to make himself feel important. He even goes out of his way to appear stinky and dirty to embarrass his brother when guests come for dinner. The dialogue is usually kept to a minimum with the camera focusing on the vast landscape with New Zealand standing in for Montana. The score with its eerie sounds serves to magnify the tension that we feel between the characters. I won’t give away the plot but there is a frequent reference to an older ranch hand who has passed away and was the one who taught Phil and George about ranching. This is important. The movie is based on a book and has something significant to say about what it is to be a man. There is a lot going on below the surface with these multilayered characters that makes this a first-rate drama. However, the slow pace and lack of physical action is bound to turn off some audiences.

The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall       4 stars

Jeymes Samuel has created a fantasy western based on real people that existed in the Old West. This is a violence filled movie with heroes and villains much in the tradition of the old Hollywood westerns only with an all Black cast. It seems to be set in the Oklahoma territory where freedmen settled after the Civil War, featuring all Black towns but with white folks nearby. The film is all about style at the expense of historical accuracy, that is to say it is a crowd pleaser. The actual story is not that important, but it is about an outlaw, Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) seeking revenge against a ruthless gang leader, Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) who murdered Love’s parents. Love is picking off Buck’s gang one by one until things change when Buck is freed from prison by his gang that includes badass Trudy Love (a wonderfully cast Regina King). There is plenty of tough talk, faceoffs and shootouts accompanied by a Reggae style soundtrack that will keep the audience engaged through the two and a quarter hour runtime. The dialogue is sometimes not true to the era drifting into more modern lingo, but accuracy is not the point of the film. The ending is a seemingly never ending showdown reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s westerns, stretching the limits of credibility. The all star cast is rounded out with Zazie Beetz as Stagecoach Mary, Delroy Lindo, LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Deadwyler as Cuffee, Damon Wayans Jr. and Deon Cole. If you are looking for a great action movie with some over the top violence, then you should not miss The Harder They Fall, available on Netflix.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1                  3 ½ stars

If you go to see Kevin Costner’s sweeping epic of the Old West, Horizon: An American Saga, you had better make sure you are in for the long haul. The movie clocks in at more than three hours and has a multitude of characters for you to keep track of. As the title implies, this is chapter 1 of what will eventually be a four-part series of movies, all of which lead to and center on a growing community in the American Southwest called Horizon. Early in the movie there is a scene of a celebration at a barn dance one night in the new town. Some nearby Apache Indians are not so enthralled with their new neighbors, so a group of them launches an attack on the new settlers in one of the most brutal scenes I can remember in the movies. (It’s on a scale of what I remember in The Revenant.) The town ends up destroyed with most of the residents dead, including many of one family, the Kittredges who put up a tremendous fight. The matriarch, Francis (Sienna Miller) and her daughter alone survive. There is a nearby US Army outpost with a contingent of soldiers that comes to the rescue, though they are too late to be of help. One soldier in particular, Lt. Gephardt (Sam Worthington) delivers a message to the survivors that they should reconsider their decision to come to this land inhabited by hostile Indians, but the settlers are unwilling to take this advise and there lies the drama and the message of the film. The lure of this land to be settled by the white travelers (and other races) leaving their former homes cannot be quenched. They must stay and others like them will continue to come, drawn by the promise of a better life. Repeatedly we see a poster about Horizon, promising unlimited land to those brave enough to make the journey. Other story lines also find characters finding their way here, one of them involving a horse trader who has found various ways of making a living named Hayes Ellison (Kevin Costner). Ellison, who is very accomplished at handling a gun, finds his life entwined with a young woman, Marigold (Abbey Lee) who is on the run from men who would like to see her dead. This mysterious man will be drawn to Horizon as well. An additional story line focuses on the Apache Indian tribe and the internal divisions that occur as a result of the incursions of the white folk. One of them, Pionsenay (Owen Crow Shoe) is the leader of the war party, but he cannot defend his people from the inevitable retaliation from the armed settlers who practice scalping the dead for bounty. Finally, we follow a wagon train coming from Kansas on the Santa Fe trail, also seeking the new land, led by Matthew (Luke Wilson) who must deal with all the internal problems of the pioneers and be concerned about Indian attacks as well. It is a challenge for the viewer to keep up with the various stories and so many characters as the story seems so expansive. It is likely this is what Costner intended as this series has long been a dream of his that is now becoming reality. There is plenty more promised as we see at the end of the movie from a long montage of scenes involving our characters and some new ones that preview what is to come. Horizon should be considered to be more of a mini-series than a movie. Chapter 2 is expected sometime this fall, with additional chapters next year. Chapter 3 is about to begin production. Chapter 1 felt like a marathon. I am hoping that the next ones will be less than three hours!