Meek's Cutoff

Kelly Reichardt's minimalist cinema-of-the-inane hits a painfully low ebb with an anti-western lacking any sign of a narrative arc. Michelle Williams returns to working with Reichardt since leading the filmmaker's last film "Wendy and Lucy." Here Williams plays Emily Tetherow, an independent-minded young woman--read feminist icon--traveling near the desolate Oregon Trail with three families in 1845. The group of thirsty emigrants hires a gregarious mountain man named Stephen Meek to guide them on a journey across the Cascade Mountains. He promises riches; they need water. Even with Meek's guidance, the group is lost on a misbegotten journey.

Bruce Greenwood is unrecognizable as the manipulative codger Meek, whose raspy voice and quick delivery of sexist and racist ideals briefly masks his ignorance about the frontier he pretends to master. Greenwood's fully-rounded characterization comes as a much-needed perk. Kelly Reichardt's regular script collaborator Jon Raymond provides a series of falsely dramatic episodes that lead nowhere. For example, it's a big deal when a stagecoach rolls unattended down an hill and crashes. A gun-stand-off is the highest dramatic pitch the story ever hits. The characters remain inaccessible. The film's main dramatic grist comes from a Native American Indian (wonderfully played by Rod Rondeaux) who the group take as their prisoner. Mr. Meek is only too happy to brutalize the Native American. Emily, on the other hand, does what she can to win the man's trust. She stitches up his moccasins. The downtrodden prisoner, who doesn't speak English, affords Emily an opportunity to express her unpopular sense of justice. She effectively upstages Meek's racist ideas that he is want to impose on the entire group.

Reichardt's decision to shoot the film in 4:3 aspect ratio gives it a televisual feel. There are plenty of arty landscape shots and center-dominant compositions, each ineffectual in its own way. Kelly Reichardt references Robert Altman's "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" as an influence on "Meek's Cutoff." Comparison between the films does not favor "Meek's Cutoff." Altman's film is a thousand times more modern. It is rich with texture and breathes with romantic tension. Different from Reichardt's film, Altman's movie is a character-driven story built of solid form. It doesn't hurt that its casting includes Julie Christie opposite Warren Beatty. "Meek's Cuttoff" shows a young filmmaker attempting to create an illusion of narrative rigor hooked into a fairly bland allusion regarding the United States current personality crisis. Neither the director or screenwriter have any idea what they want to say. Everything is vague. They have a skeletal narrative structure and no need for any budget-busting luxuries like stage sets. There isn't a fully developed storyline, and there aren't enough ideas in a movie that film snobs will congratulate themselves for adoring. Pshaw.

Rated PG. 104 mins. (C-) (Two Stars - out of five/no halves)

True Grit

Bridging Wayne
The Coen Brothers Give Grit a Spit Shine
By Cole Smithey

Leave it to Ethan and Joel Coen to reinvent the modern western. Not since Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" has the western seemed such a vibrant genre. The filmmaking brothers adapt Charles Portis's novel with so much humorous panache and deathly reason that you can't help but give yourself over completely to the movie. More than just filling John Wayne's shoes in what was his greatest performance, in Henry Hathaway's 1969 original "True Grit," Jeff Bridges creates a more believable character as U.S. Marshal Ruben Cogburn a.k.a. "Rooster Cockburn." With a leather eye-patch covering his blind right-eye Rooster is a man with "grit." It's an elusive quality of calculated confidence in everything he does that draws 14-year-old Mattie Ross (brilliantly played by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) to him. "Grit" is also a euphemism for "killer instinct," something Rooster Cockburn has in spades.

Set in the 1870s Mattie's dad has recently been killed by a crafty outlaw named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Chaney is recognizable by a permanent gun-powder burn on his cheek. Lasting scars go with the territory. Mattie wants retribution and she wants it quick. Wise beyond her years, she puts together the funds needed to hire Rooster to track down Chaney and bring him to justice. She insists on riding her own horse with Rooster on the manhunt. Forget that it means traveling deep into dangerous Indian territory. To Mattie's surprise, a Texas Ranger named La Boeuf (Matt Damon) has already been on Chaney's trail for several months. He hasn't had any success. La Boeuf likes to brag about his knowledge as a Ranger but doesn't possess half the appropriate skills that Rooster can summon up in a one-eyed-blink. Nonetheless, La Boeuf uncomfortably teams up with Rooster to track Chaney down. Mattie comes along too. A swim across a fast moving river proves her resolve to Rooster and La Boeuf.

It isn't long before Mattie bears first-hand witness to the fast-action violence Rooster is capable of unleashing. There will be murder. Mattie knows intuitively there will be a heavy price for the vengeance she seeks, but with clear-eyed determination Mattie accepts every hardship without complaint. She too is stoic.

The burning question at the heart of the Coen brother's "True Grit" is how well Jeff Bridges will flesh out a role burned in many people's memories with John Wayne's face. The actors come from vastly different schools of acting. Wayne's on-the-nose style was more presentational. Bridges is more of a representational actor. His creation aligns closer to Daniel Day Lewis's work on "There Will Be Blood," or even Billy Bob Thorton's memorable portrayal in "Sling Blade." There's magic in the way he talks. The delicate intonation Bridges uses has a musical and lyrical quality. It keeps you wanting to hear more. For his storied reputation of indiscriminate killing, Bridges's Rooster Cockburn is an aging misfit who can turn a cinder to flame with cold intentionality alone. Bridges is not hammy like John Wayne, although Rooster can be a competitive show-off.

In one of the film's most endearing scenes an inebriated Rooster tries to one-up La Boeuf with his skeet shooting prowess. It's not the calculated "dog-petting" scene you might imagine. It goes on longer than it seems it should. That's where the comedy comes. We can laugh at him. Rooster is an imperfect man and we love him for it. He also isn't the only one with grit. Mattie has it too. As with "Fargo," there's a steely spine of feminist thought at play. "True Grit" is one damned fine western that's better than the original. It's also one of the best films of the year.

Rated PG-13. 110 mins. (A+) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Jesse James as Pop Icon

By Cole Smithey

New Zealand director Andrew Dominik ("Chopper") tells the story of Jesse James’s last days in a patient and unequivocal style that makes us want to turn back history. Based on the 1983 novel by Ron Hansen, Dominik presents an epic western stripped down to its barest elements. The 34-year-old Jesse James (brilliantly played by Brad Pitt) attempts to settle down with his wife (Mary-Louise Parker) and children under the alias of Thomas Howard. The gunfighter remains unable to escape his renown as America’s most popular train robber. Jesse’s least intelligent follower is Bob Ford (Casey Affleck), the younger brother of trusted James Gang member Charley (Sam Rockwell). Casey Affleck gives an outstanding performance that proves him to be a character actor of immense creativity, clarity, and composure. Cinematographer Roger Deakins ("In the Valley of Elah") utilizes a "big-sky image system as formally composed chapter breaks to seamlessly magnify the story’s epic qualities. Intermittent voice-over narration is the single element that keeps perfection at bay in this highly original addition to the western genre.

An early scene between Jesse’s stoic older brother Frank (majestically played by Sam Shepard) and the 19-year-old wormy Bob Ford (Affleck) expresses Ford’s infuriating ability to ingratiate himself with the robbers he idolizes. Frank keeps lookout in the thick woods near the James Gang camp. Affleck’s Bob Ford hunches low on the ground in the thick woods. He pleads his case for tagging along on as Frank’s "sidekick" on the coming night’s robbery. In Affleck’s wispy bright voice we hear the strains of a sycophant plying his trade. Frank impatiently dismisses Ford back to the camp where Ford’s older brother Charley (Rockwell) does some verbal jousting with Dick (Paul Schneider), and Jesse’s cousin Wood (Jeremy Renner), about "poetry not working on whores." "You can hide things in vocabulary," Dick tells the others. The humorously loaded message sends clues to interpreting the film’s measured use of language that gains significance as a yardstick of historic and cultural meanings.

After pistol whipping a bank guard during the film’s only train robbery Jesse explains to his shocked cohorts, "They got their company rules, and I got my mean streak, and that’s how we get things done around here." It’s a satisfying bit of self description that shows just how Jesse James rationalizes his actions. It also evinces how James views his compartmentalized attack on social injustice enacted by thieves with pens, who eventually disguise their crimes under the name of "corporation."

The suspenseful heist that transpires is a noir-inflected nighttime mission that exemplifies Jesse’s effectiveness as a criminal mastermind. Jesse’s innate ability to judge character and situations makes Bob Ford a surprising Achilles’s heel for James. The inescapable duality between the men energizes the story.

Jesse gets wind of a plot against him by his former gang. He traces their steps back to Wood and Dick who have let violent jealousy over a woman drive a stake between them. The inciting event allows for a remarkably erotic outhouse scene between Dick and a not-so-distant relative of Wood, Sarah Hite (Kailin See), when she invites Dick into the outhouse with the telling line "And you thought I was a lady."

Andrew Dominik keeps the script’s subtext of celebrity culture at a distance until the film’s coda resolves Robert Ford’s life after killing the famed gunslinger legend that he once worshiped from dime novels. Here is a modern western art film that utilizes the camera’s discreet observations to sculpt a tidal wave of generational zeitgeist from a clash of ideals. It is a brilliant movie to be savored on the big screen.

Rated R. 160 mins. (A-) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)

3:10 to Yuma

Crowe Vs. Bale
Mangold Reinvents Elmore Leonard Western
By Cole Smithey

Director James Mangold’s update of the Elmore Leonard short story that spawned the original 1957 Western, is a gritty action-packed movie that trades on the talents of its headstrong leading men. Russell Crowe effortlessly settles into the role of mastermind robber Ben Wade, whose days of killing and theft draw to a close after his capture at a brothel where he dallies too long. Distraught rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is on the brink of loosing his land to the railroad when he accepts the promise of a rich reward to help capture and escort Ben Wade as far as the 3:10 train to Yuma prison to be hanged. Nevertheless, the handcuffed prisoner increases his chances of escape with every guard he eliminates during the intense overland journey. Dan’s disobedient teenage son Will (Logan Lerman) comes to his father’s aid, and proves to be an essential asset before the train for Yuma leaves the station. Aside from a few plot pits, "3:10 to Yuma" is a boisterous Western with strong ensemble performances all around.

Early on, ruffians set fire to Dan’s barn and he swears retribution that he is powerless to achieve. Since losing a leg in the Civil War, Dan wears a prosthetic limb that challenges his son’s doubts about his father. Even Dan’s wife (Gretchen Mol) has little faith in her husband’s ability to provide for their family. These are the ingredients of pathos that Christian Bale skewers as a master of unexpected emotions.

The often overlooked Western genre is enjoying a spike thanks to movies like "September Dawn" and the upcoming breathlessly titled "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." "3:10 to Yuma" sets itself apart from the archetypal revenge structure by pitting the notion of an ingenious bandit against an emasculated war veteran struggling to save his family. There’s a wealth of dramatic material here, and a large part of the film’s appeal comes from the duality between its notoriously contentious leading men. Russell Crowe’s studied composure withers in the presence of Bale’s slow-burn tenacity even as Wade is sold as Dan’s physical and intellectual superior. Bale is the better actor, and you can see it in the way he manipulates nuances of motivation that leave a mark, while Crowe’s throwaway performance is smooth to a fault.

James Mangold ("Walk the Line") sees where Elmore Leonard’s post modern Western strays from classical constraints of the genre, and is keen to emphasize an unconventional tone to the violence. Sequences of brutal action are treated with the desperation and intellect of the characters, while staying true to their inherent cinematic energy. There’s a moment of fetishistic appreciation for the weaponry of the day during a payroll coach robbery that Wade commands before being caught. A shiny Gatling gun mounted in the coach promises to overpower the thieves, and the audience is invited to marvel at its impressive functionality. And yet, when Dan and his son come upon the heist from afar, we share in accepting the dark allure of the crime that Will appreciates for its palpable excitement. It’s a thrill that the wide-eyed kid unknowingly shares with Wade’s fiercely loyal henchman Charlie Prince (played with exquisite menace by Ben Foster). Will’s longing voyeurism quickly shifts to that of active participant and along the way he proves himself to have an adult’s knack for effecting change.

Visually, "3:10 to Yuma" is stunning. An undercurrent of excitement permeates every frame of cinematographer Phedon Papamichael’s lens. A battle of wits between Dan and Wade lock the men in an extended duel that instructs Will in lessons of loyalty that the audience is privy to on a subconscious level until the film’s last moments bring on a rush of realization. Justice is not what it seems.

Rated R. 120 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)