The Homesman - 5.0 / 10.0
Beautiful cinematography but that's where the good stuff ends. Acting and directing is fine but the editing and adapted screenplay borked this movie. Totally disjointed plot with confusing character development and dialogue. Not a must-see.
I totally disagree.
This was definitely a remarkable film.
I want and will watch it again, once released on DVD or BR or available for streaming.
Most of the negative reviews are from people expecting a Disney-like happy film about the wild west. Or some wild west fantasy.
Also, negative reviews because Meryl Streep had such a small part.
First of all, this is not a Meryl Streep film nor was it meant to be.
Streep made a small appearance playing a character, a character essential to the film, and extremely well portrayed by Streep.
BEWARNED, SPOILIERS ALERT.
But my spoilers just might add this film to your must-see list.
Definitely a must-see film.
Not only for the great cast, great acting, beautiful photography, but most of all the realistic and educational experience portraying life of the settlers, and their challenge with surviving prairie life under such unbelievably harsh conditions.
The film itself.
What struck me was the realistic portraying of the harsh life for settlers farming and living on the midwest prairie lands.
Farming under the most adverse of conditions.
Communities with only a handful of settlers.
The small community stabilized only by presents of the church, and the church as its only fabric keeping people somewhat civilized.
A wonder anyone actually survived this harsh life.
The few settlers living in this community had their need and desire for a wife to share this life. And with so few single women available, the settlers were forced to go east, back to somewhat civilized America, to seek out a wife.
Once married, as was the laws of society in those days, the wife had no choice but submit to the wishes of the husband.
Meaning, this newlywed woman had no choice but to follow her husband, trading away somewhat civilized eastern life for completely uncivilized prairie farm life under the most harsh adverse conditions.
It is no wonder that many of these new transplanted women simply could not survive mentally and physically under such harsh adverse conditions.
Thus, the basic theme of this movie.
And then you have great Hillary Swank.
Her character as a single woman living this harsh prairie farm life, something quite rare back then for a woman, her doing what was needed to survive under such adverse conditions.
A strong woman, true, but even the strongest of women had their breaking point trying to survive under that hard life.
Later in the film, sadly, we discover Swank's personal breaking point.
Some of the most shocking moments, most historical moments, concerned child birth as a woman during this hard life.
Take one scene, where the husband informs his wife the crops have failed.
A storm has turned their crop of corn into at best, feed for the cattle.
Meaning, limited food for this prairie family to survive the harsh Winter ahead.
Or the ground well for water and survival of both human and livestock, has dried up.
Again, further reducing the chances for survival into the Spring.
Pregnancy was seldom welcome under such harsh conditions.
With resources profoundly limited to raise any child.
The male child had value. Value in one day adding muscle to the hard life of farming.
The female child would not provide such muscle, thus had a disadvantage.
This explains two very disturbing scenes in the film, and two reasons many viewers just could not handle the historical fact with depicting prairie farm life.
And why some viewers gave negative marks against this film.
The two scenes?
One scene, a woman with a small child.
It is not clear if the child was a newborn that died at birth, or died later of some illness?
Possibly died of starvation, weakness, illness, or at birth?
Few newborns survived their first year of life.
So you have this pregnant mother, and remember there was no birth control in those days, the woman had no option but to bring the pregnancy to term, to only later watch her child die of starvation and or illness.
There you have just one factor with the prairie women losing their grip on sanity.
The scene? This mother carrying her dead baby to the barn, tossing the dead tiny corpse onto a pile of hay.
That pile of hay containing several other deceased and wrapped tiny corpse from previous births, births all victim of such harsh prairie life.
Or another scene, the mother clutching and suckling her living newborn, and that blank emotionless stare on the mothers face while she walks clutching her suckling newborn.
She walks outside to the outhouse, the toilet, and literally drops the crying newborn into the hole in the outhouse toilet.
Disposing of life as one might dispose of garbage.
Why?
Because the only option for this newborns mother was to either watch her child eventually starve, then become ill and die, or the mercy killing of a loving mother.
So this was her only choice.
To avoid her childs eventual suffering now, or witness the enviable suffering and death later.
Remember, no such thing as birth control existed back then.
A pregnant woman carried the pregnancy to term.
And with one dried up well of water supply, or one failed crop, meant eventual certain death for that child.
That was the harsh reality of life on the prairie, reason enough for driving any women into breakdown and insanity.
In this film, Hillary Swank takes on the challenge to transport three of these women that have lost all connection with reality, transport the three women back to the east and back into civilization and help.
Swank's character, a hard seasoned farm woman.
Alone and lonely, Swank's one desire is to marry.
To have a man to share her life. Any man. Any man at all.
The goal Swank attempts to achieve, marriage, but due to her hard crusty appearance and attitude none of the few available men in the area will consider Swank as a desirable mate.
The single men would rather travel back to the civilized east and seek more attractive desirable women to marry, then transplant their bride back into that harsh life of prairie farming.
Swank hooks up with Tommy Lee Jones.
A notorious character of questionable moral, Jones makes a pact with Swank with transporting the three insane women back to the east.
The three women, caged and physically chained like wild animals, in a box of wood on wheels.
With Swank and Jones as their only hope for salvation.
Facing hard challenges along the way.
Indians, starvation, environment, and in the middle of nowhere their stumbling upon a lonely hotel of sorts, and its shady inn keeper played by James Spader.
Spader, who has no desire with helping this band of rejects in need, heading east.
This oddball hotel located in the middle of nowhere, abundant with food and drink, but food and drink reserved only for its residents and for none other.
Turned away by force and by gun point, Jones and his group in need depart this oasis of hope.
Only later to return for the sole purpose of taking revenge against this unwelcoming oddball hotel and its oddball inn keeper.
Burning all to the ground, including residents.
Moving on...
It was a bit if surprise, yet really no surprise, when Swank in an obvious last ditch effort, an obvious personally humiliating effort, Swank tries to convince Tommy Lee Jones with her misguided logic that the two of them should become more than just wagon train partners heading east.
Swank then offers herself sexually unto Jones, in this humiliating scene, as if Swank was offering Jones a spoiled piece of meat.
With total lack of romance or physical attraction, and certainly lacking of any emotional desire, Swank convinces Jones to have his way with her. Or more so, her way with Jones.
With this frugal attempt by Swank and her desire to close some deal of marriage with Jones.
A Swank/Jones sex scene follows, similar to the disgust of picking a blood sucking tick off ones arm. With no change of heart after the sex, Jones fails to consider any possibility of marriage to this crusty hard woman.
This, the final Swank humiliation.
Swank, realizing her goal of marriage will never happen.
With the break of dawn, Jones finds Swank missing from camp, only to discover Swank having hung herself from a tree branch.
Swank, had lost all hope.
Never to marry, the fear and the hidden weakness of this otherwise strong woman.
Powerful scene, yet quite disturbing.
With Swank's death, Jones found no further desire to fulfill his commitment to deliver the three women east into safety.
Jones abandons the three women he thinks.
But very soon Jones discovered he is followed by the three women.
The first hint of remaining sanity, hopes of healing, from the three women.
They finally had realized Jones and Swank were trying to help.
With the women now pursuing Jones, Jones experiences a softening of the heart, and once again takes on the three women heading east.
That is where Meryl Streep comes in.
Streep is the wife of the minister, their final destination.
Streep will accept the three women into her home, and into the church, to provide healing.
This was a must-see film.
Great cast, acting, story line, absolutely historical, but possibly too realistic and disturbing for many to accept.
True, prairie farm life was near intolerable.
True, women had no idea of the life ahead when marring hard rugged prairie men.
True, women had no birth control and no options but to carry pregnancy to term.
True, prairie men desired their women give them male offspring, not female.
True, male offspring were considered an asset. Female offspring the liability.
True, survival always an unknown. Resources could be wiped out with a single storm.
True, resources were scarce, not to be wasted on unplanned births.
True, child rearing was a life and death decision for the mother.
True, the intensional death of a unwanted birth had no legal ramifications.
True, it was very common for women transplanted into prairie life to suffer mental breakdown.
While packed with the very best actors, great acting, beautiful photography, shocking theme, historical accuracy, still this film was able to deliver some humorous and lighter moments.
If you give it a chance, you will not soon forget this film.