I didn’t know too much about this film other than that it was depicting a story in the “old west” period of American history (actually it’s 1892 the period the film takes places in, but they marketed as the “old west”). I don’t know how many of you have attempted to watch modern westerns of all kinds, but for the most part they all stink pretty bad. This was on my mind as I saw down to watch it, but I suppose I still had an open mind. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the film and how well done it was. The story is about two characters really; a woman who survives her family being massacred, and a soldier with a huge chip on his shoulder about Native Americans. Both of them cross paths and help each other journey from Arizona to Montana to bring a Cheyenne chief home so that he may die with his people. The film stars Christian Bale as Captain Joseph Blocker; he comes off as very sympathetic and understandable, even though he is carrying this huge burden and all of this bitterness inside from day long past. Christian Bale, ever the master of brooding, wounded men played this fantastically. Not only did the character come off as genuine, but he also became the character as well, despite being somewhat one dimensional. Rosamund Pike as Rosalie Quaid was perfection; she is one of the finest actresses of the age, and she plays the difficult roles to prove it. She plays a grieving mother and wife that has lost everything, and Ms. Pike plays this character with such raw passion and believability that it’s almost as if she has become that woman at times because of the extraordinary performance. The only other performance that really stood out was that of Jonathan Majors as Corporal Henry Woodsen. He and Christian Bale had a number of scenes together and they were great, in a good way. He unfortunately didn’t grow as a character, which was a detriment to the film overall. Rory Cochrane played Master Sergeant Thomas Metz, who was a very troubled soldier that couldn’t come to terms with his past actions. I actually didn’t care for this character at all; unlikable, and not really thought out that well. He was just an emotional mess and that’s it’ nothing was really written well for this character. Everyone else did a fine job, but make no mistake Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike were and are the reasons to watch this film.
Scott Cooper wrote and directed the film (he also directed Black Mass) and I think he did a fairly good job. The film was realistic, had a good story and plot with many complex underlying themes and issues at stake without coming off too preachy. There were some social justice angles, but it wasn’t overwhelming to the point of nausea. For the most part the writing was fairly well done, but the film did drag here and there, and some of the characters weren’t written that well, and the ending wasn’t that great, but overall it was good. Max Richter composed the music and I don’t recall it being anything overly notable, which doesn’t mean it was bad only that it wasn’t good enough to be memorable. The cinematography by Masanobu Takayanagi was breathtaking, and perhaps the finest technical element of the film. I’ve actually noticed that a lot of filmmakers in recent years are becoming very adept at showcasing astounding cinematography. Remaining technical elements were well done, but nothing really stood out aside from the one. The action in the film was typical of what you’d find in a gritty shoot’em up western, so nothing really dynamic, but this film is not for the faint of heart; the beginning of the film is quite violently disturbing. Hostiles is a good film, not great, but Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike are why you’d want to see this film. If you’re not into performance driven films that are dark than you may want to watch something else. Speaking of things that are dark, I was just teaching about Rome and how dictators can spring up from democracies; China just eliminated term limits on presidents, so Xi Xinping could become president for life like Mao Zedong once was. I’m sure Russia won’t be far behind on making a similar decision. Now these kinds of things are what make me uneasy, along with the mass butchery of people and inaction from those that know it is occurring. I really hope the future gets brighter. May the Force be with us all.Rosamund Pike interview on Hostiles
Hostiles scene
Jessica Jones season 2 trailer
