Fancy some misery? How about a big hefty dollop of it, complete with hangings, rape and one too many graphic baby deaths? Then, the fourth movie Tommy Lee Jones has directed in his illustrious career, is right up your alleyway.
Based on the Glendon Swarthout novel, The Homesman follows three women who have been driven mad by their pioneer way of life. With various degrees of bat shit craziness between them, they are to be transported across the country by Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) and George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones). This journey is not without incident as in between bouts of howling, snarling and some brief (thankfully) flashbacks, our hapless, unlikely couple find themselves trading a horse to buy safe passage from a bunch of Indians and Briggs get’s drunk…twice.
The Homesman is as bleak as the barren wasteland it’s set in, with little and nothing happening for long periods of time, with long, lingering (and beautifully shot) cinematography providing ample fattening up to the running time. To dig through the misery and find a positive, one has to look at how authentic and wonderfully photographed this movie is. From the costumes and sets, to the aforementioned, lingering vistas, this is incredibly authentic.
At it’s core, there is an interesting story here, especially surrounding the three crazy ladies. And while their backstory is presented in brief flashbacks, there probably isn’t enough time spent on their past to develop their forlorn characters fully. However, that may well be a blessing in disguise as audiences may not find babies being hurled down outhouse toilets compelling viewing.
Hilary Swank injects a powerful performance in places and she’s as crazy as her cargo, if not more. It’s this trait that Swank manages to keep bubbling away at the surface of her character and she is a delight to watch at times. Tommy Lee Jones provides the stark contrast to Swank. While he provides some dark humour at times, he’s an unlikely partner for this lengthy journey. A supporting cast made up of John Lithgow, James Spader, William Fichtner, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter and Meryl Streep round off some decent casting, but tragically their characters are sadly underused.
The Homesman plods away through it’s story, meandering in places and only stopping off to showcase some beautiful landscapes (we get it!!! once or twice would have been enough) but ultimately this is a story that is miserable and never lifts itself above where it began. It starts as Oscar bait, but soon ends up in what is arguably a miserable and bleak watch. While the lives of these women were completely horrific, Jones direction never conveys the passion and strength of Mary Bee Cuddy.
If you’re full of the joys of life and want a come down, this is the movie for you!
