The Homesman
When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy. Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a low-life drifter, George Briggs, to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women head east, where a waiting minister and his wife have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.
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- Cast:
- Hilary Swank , Tommy Lee Jones , Grace Gummer , Miranda Otto , Sonja Richter , Tim Blake Nelson , James Spader
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Reviews
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
As a well stuffed European couch potato, I like my comfort! So to be trow back in the Frontier time, it's for me like being punished: it's bare, made of old craps, already old when it's new, dusty, and for sure, out of law and left to gun power! A bit like Marty in BTTF3, I don't think I could manage more than a week in that world However a lot of anonymous families, men as women and even children made it with their sweat, blood and life but are sadly today totally forgotten! Now I can hear only about Manifest destiny, glorious battles and names so a movie like this put the things back into their right place! Hilary chooses one more time a challenging and unexpected job compared to all other Hollywood actresses who prefer to stay in conventional and easy characters A bit like when she was Bradon, she does here a man job but with no joy to enjoy life just because she wants to prove her quality to be a good wife!Honestly I never liked too much TLJ but year after year, movies after movies, he walks on the same righteous path, always deliver steady and decent acting so he manages to convince me. In addition, I found him an inspired director as he has a good eye for framing his movie, with a lot of clean symmetry and simplicity So between a old west version of Lynch Straight Story and a Bridge for Therabitia for a certain psychological shock, this hard, cruel movie is still a recommendation
This whole thing is spoilers really – as other reviews demonstrate, if you get to caring about the Swank character, you will be hugely disappointed, even hurt by this and it's one case where it might be worth knowing what you're getting into. It's written by, produced by, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones and therein lies the problem.The start doesn't make a whole lot of sense. A bunch of frontier women (only women) simultaneously go mad and have to be taken back east. Meanwhile Hilary Swank is too 'plain' for any man to marry her. Take a look at her photo on the video cover and compare her with the married women of the community to see how ridiculous that is. Then it starts to build some steam. Her strong character ("You're as much of a man as any man around here," says the local preacher) takes charge and volunteers to do a job which none of the men can handle. She rescues Jones' character from being hanged and, despite knowing nothing about him, forces/bribes him to help her on the journey.So far this has been pretty good, OK bleak and not always believable but, as usual, Swank's performance is quite brilliant, Jones does his usual uninspiring but solid job and the supporting cast do fine. Jones is directing well too early on, pacing things nicely and building an authentic feel. We have plenty to hope for, a character to care about, and a testing journey in prospect. It all goes wrong when the travellers run across a little girl's desolate grave.Suddenly and for no reason the Swank character is transformed. She's been boss all along but now she's doing what Jones tells her, bursting into tears, then, absurdly, proposing marriage to this unreliable and somewhat decrepit old man and virtually forcing herself on him sexually. The only explanation: she's crazier than the wagon-load of women she's supposed to be looking after. Next, forgetting her passionately-delivered promises to the relatives of those women, she kills herself. This goes beyond shaky and ridiculous to pointless and unbelievable and we realise that this is not Jones' take on a strong woman, but just another self-absorbed and self-centred vehicle for a writer-producer-director-star. In fact it went wrong earlier than that when the Jones character was introduced. From that point on he shows little interest in the plot or the other characters – everything is there only to provided the foils to his lead.I wasn't interested in Jones' rather dull and stereotyped playing of a dull, stereotyped character, nor in his self-absorption. I didn't watch any more, wished I'd never started watching in the first place and I hope this will help others avoid the same mistake.
This is a short comment to warn of a very disturbing scene in the first 15 minutes of this movie. It's a scene that'll stay with me for the next few days at least, I suspect and one I'll always think of if the subject of this film ever comes up going forward. If you can get past this, however, there is an otherwise decent, if mostly bleak, movie to be found. I say mostly because there are also some uplifting messages here if you look for them. Personally, I'm glad I watched it, but it certainly won't be for everyone. I marked these comments as a spoiler to be safe, although I've deliberately tried to write them so as not to give too much away.
"The Homesman" is a drama that surprised me. It's a western too and quite loyal to some of its roots, but it's not a drama that just happens to be a western. Because it is a western, it finds ways to emphasize the story in a way that makes it so much stronger than it would be otherwise.How should I describe this one? It's a story about hardship and broken people. Almost every character that has any focus, is somehow broken. Some are visibly broken beyond the capacity to function, and this is indeed the main storyline: Mary Bee Cuddy is determined to help three broken, mentally ill women to get to a church far away, where they would receive better care. Some of these women are reluctant to go, some of them want to go, but none of them speak and all of them seem beyond help. Mary Bee Cuddy gets a lowlife who calls himself George Briggs to help her transport these women. The journey is long, dangerous and ultimately tells us more about these characters than any destination ever would.Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) drives this movie forward. She is a good, hard-working, God-fearing and strong-willed woman. Not a ball-busting superficial Mary Sue, or a portrayal of what an "independent woman" means to many modern mainstream feminists, but a real character with depth, needs and weaknesses of her own. This seems to have upset people who only want female characters to validate their checklist politics and/or bitterness, but everyone else can see a layered, driven and a very central character. About Mary Bee Cuddy's character, I do like how simple the symbolism is around her. She has managed to survive by herself in a very hostile and unforgiving world. She prays, she tries her best and she wants to help people. But can she help herself? The irony of the story is this: Mary Bee Cuddy wants to care for these broken people and get them all to a safe place far away, while she needs that destination and care just as much. She's not visibly broken and she can certainly function, but in her own way she is a desperate person. Desperate for love, desperate for anything to validate her struggles, to make them mean something. Most of us can relate to this. In this movie, you will find how people break in different ways. Some people are ill and their minds are broken, some can't get over a personal tragedy, some people are broken by cruelty and constant hardships, some people are broken by their inability to accept the "holes" in their hearts or what they don't have. Some people are broken by their false sense of independence and strength that doesn't allow them to love or care for others. This movie is both nihilistic and hopeful, even though the darkness threatens to swallow the little glimmer of hope left. There is a contrast. We are shown plenty of cruel things and hopeless despair, but I felt it also had a wonderfully naive heart to it, somewhere under the dark layers. This movie demonstrates how we can make a difference when we carry someone else's burdens for them or even with them, although we can't force anyone to do the same for us. If there is a message in this movie, I think it's this: we can never know how far the ripples of our lives and good deeds go, and sometimes - whether we know it or not - we can inspire people, no matter how fruitless and desperate our efforts can seem to us. We see this effect in at least one of the characters."The Homesman" can seem like a movie without a point, a movie where the journey means more than the destination, but there is a point to it. At times it's subtle and other times it hammers things to your head, but it's still tonally intact and everything works in favor of the story. It doesn't end with a bang, and although I would've liked a stronger, more simple ending, it's still quite fitting in its own way.Hilary Swank is absolutely great in this, and she is the beating heart of the story. Tommy Lee Jones is great too, both in very different ways. The three crazy ladies are played by Miranda Otto, Grace Gummer and Sonja Richter. They are all good, and although their craziness can be seen as "movie craziness" instead of something absolutely real and subtle, their performances work nonetheless. Supporting cast is very good as well, featuring good performances from William Fichtner, Caroline Lagerfelt and more.This film is well shot, although you won't get many majestic scenery shots or anything else that's visually outstanding in itself. In fact, you don't even notice the camera most of the time. I like this approach in a character-driven story. Marco Beltrami composed a good score. At first it seems a little out of place (I'd blame the editing department for this), but it finds its place soon enough. It's nothing too grand, which again is fitting.Tommy Lee Jones directed and co-wrote this little gem. Thumbs up for the other writers too, and I might just check out the novel this movie is based on. "The Homesman" hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't feel it at first, but it just refused to go away. Its narrative isn't as tight or obvious as in most crowd-pleasing movies, and it's certainly not an exciting action movie (like westerns often tend to be), but it cuts deep if you allow it. It's not a bad cut, even though it may feel bad at first. When it scars, you feel better about it.Recommended for lovers of character-driven drama, even those who don't normally like westerns. But most of all, recommended for broken hearts and minds.