When I first learned of this movie I was very excited. I am not that into old westerns, though I am sure I am missing out, but the more modern day westerns that have been made lately (re: American Outlaws, Young Guns, Tombstone) have been really fun to watch and get into. Maybe it’s the actors that I don’t know that keeps me from getting into the older westerns…I’m not sure, but nevertheless, the first sight of this movie’s trailer totally piqued my interest.
It can be said of me that I do love a good blockbuster, that I would at first glance choose an action packed “guy movie” over, let’s say, a period film, an introspective film, a romantic comedy, a sweeping epic, etc., but in this case, you would be wrong. This movie was more about character development and relationships than it was about action or gun fights (though it had plenty of both). I was blown away by the interaction and tension between the main characters who at first seemed polar opposites (good guy vs. bad guy) of each other yet as the movie progressed looked more and more alike.
Christian Bale turns in another epic performance as he continues to impress me with his range of characters that he’s able to play wonderfully. He plays a beleaguered Civil War vet who is trying to maintain and run a mediocre farm, while raising 2 boys and caring for his wife. I love watching the inner struggles that he faces, struggles that all men face, like how to raise your boys to do what’s right and to be brave yet wise, and how to show them you are the MAN that you are while still maintaining your emotional core…put all of that into a western environment and time period and it results in some beautiful yet hard-to-watch emotional scenes.
Russell Crowe delivers a very solid and charming rendition of the villainous “Ben Wade.” I love how the director didn’t go over-the-top with Crowe’s adaptation of our “bad guy.” He had such an understated quality about him that amazingly added to his mystique as the evil doer. He was philosophical, creative, deliberate, and most of all, careful with how he composed himself. Westerns tend to paint a very broad and extreme picture of what a bad guy is supposed to look like that it gets cartoony at times. Crowe’s interpretation was so much more about his inner self, how he felt, how he viewed society, how he was raised, his childhood deficiencies, his world view, everything that makes up a human being…that is what “Ben Wade” was all about.
I could devote an entire paragraph in length to so many more supporting characters from this movie, like William, the brave and maturing young son of Bale, played masterfully by Logan Lerman, to the crazy yet truly evil sidekick Charlie psychotically played by Ben Foster, all the way to the legendary Peter Fonda playing a law-driven bounty hunter. All of these characters played significant and memorable parts in this movie and were the gears that helped drive this film to the end.
One of the sweeter themes that flowed throughout this movie was the father-son relationship between Dan (Bale) and William (Lerman). Although William was the stereotypical “young-son-of-the-hero” who ignorantly disobeys his fathers’ orders and instead chooses to get in on the action; meanwhile the audience waits in horror for his ultimate accidental death that will eventually drive the hero to enacting revenge and “saving the day” all for his son…this movie didn’t just leave you with that. Beneath it all, the tension and the love between William and Dan was the soul of the movie. If it was a 4-course meal, that relationship would have been the MEAT!
My wife and I watched this movie together and we were both moved. The vast and beautiful landscapes really added to our experience and the cinematography was subtle yet direct. Throughout the movie there were purposeful moments that the director allowed us to catch a glimpse of the little things out in the desert…from sweeping plains to a piece of paper stuck on a branch. The little things in this movie kept the big sequences from overcrowding the story. It felt very natural.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a great epic story that doesn’t rely on its action to grab the audience, but relies on its characters to get you through it.
Content Warning: Rated R for violence and some language. It’s a western with guns, so, there’s going to be violence. The gang that Crowe leads is pretty brutal so there are a lot of close range kills and the camera likes to put you right in the action. Get ready.
