I’m compelled to write about this movie for several reasons. First is, of course, the simple fact that I enjoy it so much myself, as well as the fact that the movie hasn’t received enough exposure, combined with the fact that I feel it has gotten too many unfair negative reviews. Enjoyment is subjective and there is always a necessary allowance for different spectrums, but at the same time, some assessments just defy logic.
In a time when westerns are not the hip thing the way they once were, I am always eager to support something that forwards the genre and attempts to keep it at least somewhat relevant. Through the many, many struggles of this films production Natalie Portman held tight to get it completed. Directors bailed, and likewise the lead actors who had signed on the project in order to work with said bailing directors. Eventually Portman was helped out by good friends and previous collaborators Ewan McGregor and Joel Edgerton. Portman had reached out to Ewan McGregor and asked him to come on board to help her get it finished, which he agreed to, and that sort of camaraderie and dedication to getting a quality Western made deserves, at least, fair consideration.
One of the consequences for the films labored production was that the studio dumped it in January, (where they offload any projects considered to be lesser) and it received very little promotion, giving it the impression that if the studio didn’t care much about, then why should audiences? One interesting side note is that it’s domestic theater release was handled by The Weinstein Company. Is it possible Natalie Portman refused to do Fat Harvey certain favors in order to get favorable treatment for her movie? Considering what Salma Hayek had to do for her movie, it wouldn’t surprise me. But none-the-less, the movie was not so much put out as left out like a late dinner left on the counter when you’re tired and want to go to bed; none of this reflecting the actual quality of the movie.
Portman portrays Jane Hammond, a possible mash-up of two previous characters she has played (Jane Foster in Thor and Evey Hammond in V For Vendetta). Her husband has come home shot up and it’s only a matter of time until the men who did it track him to where he and Jane live. To this point we have a fairly standard western dilemma set up, but this is where the movie excels, even though some feel it loses it’s way. The movie isn’t about the big showdown at the end, and this is why some criticize it as being uneven or of getting lost. It was never meant to be about the showdown; this is a woman’s story about having to survive in the meanness of the western frontier. In order to enjoy this movie it needs to be remembered that this is not a traditional western shoot ‘em up; it’s a western drama set against the backdrop of common western feuds.
What takes this movie in it’s own unique direction is that instead of focusing on how Jane’s husband is going to become a one-man A-Team and take down the oncoming bad guys, it focuses on a woman caught up in the midst of these men and their anger. And in the middle of it all she has to do her best to survive, and hopefully keep her husband alive, as well. Along the way we get more and more context, learning about Jane, her relationship with her husband, as well as Joel Edgerton’s character, who just so happens to be the “gun” that Jane is trying to get. This unfolding narrative is what I love in a western: people dealing with circumstances that are essentially unique to their time. Many of the struggles that people face today are not the same as the struggles that people faced 150 years ago.
There’s been a lot of pain and hurt, including loss, getting to where they are, and in spite of all that trouble they’ve got to deal with where life has brought them as people; even without the ones they’ve lost. Ultimately the culmination is not in the concern of whether they will physically survive the moment, but who they will be when it’s all done, and what choices will be made.
I’m being careful not to say anything that could be considered a spoiler, so this write up may seem vague at times, but I’d rather that than ruin anything. Definitely see it for yourself and I really believe you’ll have a great experience.
Handy With A Gun...! 