The Homesman
THE HOMESMAN (12)
D: Tommy Lee Jones
Roadside Attractions/Europacorp (Luc Besson, Peter M.
Brant, Brian Kennedy & Tommy Lee Jones)
US/France 2014
122 mins
Western/Drama
W: Kieran Fitzgerald, Wesley Oliver & Tommy Lee Jones
[based on the novel by Miles Hood Swarthout]
DP: Rodrigo Prieto
Ed: Roberto Silvi
Mus: Marco Beltrami
Hilary Swank (Mary Bee Cuddy), Tommy Lee Jones (George
Briggs), Grace Gummer (Arabella Sours), Miranda Otto (Theoline Belknapp), Sonja Richter (Gro Svendsen), Meryl Streep (Altha Carter), John Lithgow (Rev. Dowd), James Spader (Aloysius Duffy),
Hailee Steinfeld (Tabitha Hutchinson)
The Homesman is a subtle, dramatic western with some
strong performances from its fine ensemble cast.
Mary Lee Cuddy (Swank), is a 31-year-old spinster who
volunteers to transport three mentally unstable women, all of whom have suffered major hardships, from the American Midwest to a church community in Iowa, where adequate care for them
awaits.
En route, she saves petty conman George Briggs from a
lynching on the condition that he accompanies her on the journey.
It's a slow-burning film which is made increasingly
watchable by the strong performances, and the plot throws in a few surprising twists, especially towards the ending where Briggs finds redemption.
Not particularly memorable, but certainly worth a
watch.
7/10
