"The Homesman" (2014)

And now for something much more pleasant...

Director Tommy Lee Jones is determined to make you feel the west. In its harsh reality.  It may say more about the man than any interview could provide, but quite frankly, being an unredeemable prick sonuvabitch may be reality, but it certainly makes people hate your movie.

What starts off as a journey of discovery and humor, slides into a very dark bleak truth. Life in the frontier is hell. Worse off if you’re some 31 year old spinster desperate to put up roots. Hillary Swank, plays this spinster Mary Bee Cuddy, with the sweetness of a God fearing bible quoting lone wolf in the world. Her life is split between being a fine farmer and searching for a husband. The latter being what she is deficient in. Made even worse that she lives in a tiny town devoid of men, or ones that consider her wife material, despite her (actually very sensible) pleas.

This is when we discover there are three families struck with women who have lost their minds. They are all very distinct, in terms of their affliction but seem to function only to service the story. We learn very little of them. Only that they have suffered unspeakable pain. Though, they too are not innocent of the frontier. They seem to be victims of circumstance.

This movie is really frustrating, because we are so close to a great western, in the sense of a John Ford or something like Joshua Logan’s “River Of No Return.” I love these types of movies, which is why it hits harder that it could’ve been elevated by just a small bit of kindness. But that’s not who Tommy Lee Jones is. He offers a lot of humor, but as far as sentiment goes, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.

The cameos do come fast and hard. There is a few that seem really wasted. In particular, Meryl Streep and James Spader. Again, it is SO close, but it just veers off your expectation for no other reason than…it’s Tommy Lee Jones’ lot in life.