The Homesman (2014)

The Untold Story of The West

This was a very interesting movie, and as I was watching I didn't know what to make of it.  However, by the end I was sure of this - I had watched a strange, but very good, film!  Obviously, with  Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, and Grace Gummer, the cast was stellar.  The Homesman was weird at places, and much of of it filled with either desperation or dread, but it was riveting.  

The pioneer life

Essentially, three pioneer women go a bit crazy from the hardships of the pioneer life. Out of a sense of duty, community or altruism, Mary Bee Cuddy (Hillary Swank) hires George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones), a low-life plains drifter to transport the trio back east. 

Damsels in distress and heroic figures

On November 14, 2014 Sheila O'Malley contributed an excellent review of The Homesman on the Roger Ebert site: "The Homesman," despite the title, is about women. Women are the center of the action, women drive the action forward, women are not only damsels in distress but heroic figures of grit and courage (sometimes in the same moment). The men are helpless bystanders or ambiguous allies. There is only one villain in the film, and he is a villain because he is callous. He lacks empathy…The Homesman questions the "norm".  It asks questions about what strength looks like (in men and in women), and also what strength might actually mean, what it signifies.  Holding a rifle on an enemy requires strength.  So does being kind and caring to someone who has descended into psychosis.  Jones puts all of those elements on a level playing field."  Nicely written but she doesn't ever really make a definitive statement as to whether, in her mind, this was a good or bad movie.

A clear opinion!

The film never delves deeply enough and is made even worse by clashing tones. At times melodramatic and grim, and at other times comedic and even silly, The Homesman is out of place on every level. - Claudia Puig, USA Today, November 13, 2014 

Mary Bee Cuddy: I live uncommonly alone.

RATED:  Very good movie!

WATCH IT AGAIN:  Yes!

DO I WANT TO OWN IT?:  No need it's on all the outlets

Thanks for stopping by - see ya at the movies!