The Homesman

December 19, 2014

A homesman is someone tasked to bring people back to their homes. In this film, the people that needed safe transport are three mentally- disturbed women. Mary Bee McCuddy, a plain but hardy spinster, volunteered to be their homesman. Along the way, she rescues a old man Thomas Briggs from being hung by vigilantes and conscripts him to help her with her mission in exchange for saving his life. Together, they gather the three ladies and escort them from Nebraska homes across the dangerous Midwest prairie to a safe haven in Iowa.

Hilary Swank is an actress who had already won a couple of Oscars for playing strong women who had taken on masculine roles in life -- Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry" and Maggie Fitzgerald in "Million Dollar Baby". As Mary Bee McCuddy, a pioneer lady who bravely accepts a task only men are expected to do, Swank again goes on the same award-baiting path. The movie worked so well when Swank was on screen. She was absolutely compelling in this offbeat role as if this was written with her in mind. The movie was not the same when her character was not there.

Tommy Lee Jones is one actor who, as of late, had seemingly been confined to playing curmudgeonly and cantankerous old men, and his Briggs here is not any different. This film is only Jones' second directorial effort since his critically-acclaimed debut in "Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" back in 2005. As director, he was very generous to his lead female star Swank, and always gave way to let her shine. As actor, he does consistently as he is expected but this role of a grumpy old outlaw seems too familiar for him already. He wisely played Briggs with some self-deprecating humor to break the tendency of the story to become monotonously bleak.

There were some remarkable cameos from other award-winning or nominated stars in much smaller roles. John Lithgow is his usual capable self playing the Reverend Dowd who reluctantly sends McCuddy off on her task. Hailee Steinfeld plays 16-year old Tabitha Hutchinson to whom Briggs offers a surprising proposal. James Spader, in his usual over-the-top style, plays condescending hotel owner Aloysius Duffy. And last, but definitely not the least, none other than THE Meryl Streep plays perfectly kind and hospitable Altha Carter, who runs the institution in Iowa the women are headed for. These actors appear on screen for only ten minutes or so, but they leave a lasting impression.

The narrative may have been slow and desolate . However, the unusual situations, disturbing imagery, startling story developments and committed performances by the cast all keep our attention riveted. The cinematography with the muted colors worked well with the windswept landscape of its setting, as much a character in itself. The costumes and production design rang true to its mid-19th century time period. The haunting and unsettling musical score create an atmosphere of bitter emptiness. The insufferably miserable topic is clearly not for everyone. But for those who decide to give it a chance, the rewards will be satisfying. 7/10.

Tommy Lee Jones has a wry, dry character -- rich and deep as unwatered open plains of the Americas. He's transferred his particular personality power to the story of The Homesman. He's successfully created a fine work of "auteur cinema" (much as I personally think this form rarely exists).

The Homesman is an emotionally and powerful, idea-rich, almost humorless story -- with an immense amount of humor. It has very tight, economic tale telling with no fat on the bone; in which much is implied, historical accuracy hits its target by nuance, and the story itself is deeply respectful of an intelligent audience.

The Homesman is not "entertainment" in the haha, shoot-'em-up Western sense. It's realism committed to a moral cause -- criticism of the disenfranchised, the homeless, the people who cannot make it no matter how hard they try. It has a brilliant sense of time and place that tells the life stories of dozens of hard-enduring, long-suffering "forgotten men" -- the women no less than the men.

The key heartbreaker is Hilary Swank's character of Miss Mary Bee Cuddy. She's born into a Western frontier world where she and everyone else believes and practices that "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Hard workers and decent people. But tragically that is not enough. Why? The Homesman leaves that question deliciously unanswered. Life is not fair. God is not just.

Beautifully The Homesman does -- kind of -- answer life's problems with the value of sheer vitality and gutsiness itself. Thus that key visual motif in the movie that comes from: George Caleb Bingham, "The Jolly Flatboatmen". We must dance the dance of life, however mad.

'THE HOMESMAN': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Tommy Lee Jones directed, co-wrote and stars in this western/drama film (set in the 1850s midwest) about a 'spinster' and a 'drifter' transporting three women, driven mad by the hardships of the time, across the country. It costars Hilary Swank, Miranda Otto, Grace Gummer and Sonja Richter. It also features cameos by Meryl Streep, John Lithgow, James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, William Fichtner and Hailee Steinfeld. The film was written by Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald and Wesley Oliver and it's based on the 1988 novel, of the same name, by Glendon Swarthout. French filmmaker Luc Besson served as a producer of the movie and it also features a breathtaking music score by Marco Beltrami. It's surprisingly dark, and extremely disturbing, but I enjoyed it due to it's strong character development, outstanding performances and odd beauty.

Swank plays Mary Bee Cuddy, a strong and independent 31-year-old woman from New York. She desperately wants to find a husband but can't, due to men finding her too plain looking (I don't think Swank looks bad at all in this movie, considering the film's time and setting). When the local reverend (Lithgow) asks for someone to transport three women across the country, to a church in Hebron Iowa, Cuddy volunteers. The women (Otto, Gummer and Richter) are all mentally ill and the church will provide the special help they need. Cuddy comes across a drifter named George Briggs (Jones), who's about to be lynched for 'claim jumping', and asks him for his help (in return for saving his life). The two make the long journey together and form an odd bond.

The movie has been called a 'feminist western', by many, and I'd definitely agree it's a strong female character study, about the hardships women faced at the time. Swank is outstanding in the co- lead and Jones is just as classic and tough as ever; he does (unintentionally I think) steal some of the female cast's thunder. Jones also proves he's an equally talented director (once again) and the movie is full of beautiful visuals, as well as haunting imagery. For me the highlight of the film is the beautiful music and the touching relationships formed by the movie's central characters (it also has a shocking and unexpected twist, at the end of the second act). It's a hard film to watch, at times, but definitely worth it; if you're a fan of the genre or even if you're not.

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I really liked the western "The Homesman", but I strongly suspect that it won't be to everyone's taste. And I will admit that even this die hard fan of westerns didn't find it a perfect movie. The opening thirty minutes of the movie, for one thing, are somewhat confusing with some details, though eventually everything comes together and the audience knows what's been going on. And after that first thirty minutes, the movie continues to test the patience of viewers by being quite slow moving and long (the movie is over two hours long.) But I stuck with the movie despite all those things, and I feel I was rewarded in the end. The atmosphere of the movie feels extremely authentic, showing many of the hardships life in the wild west gave many people. Though the story is slow-moving, there are a number of interesting vignettes along the way. And you probably won't predict what eventually happens - the major plot turn around the two-thirds mark really took me by surprise. The last scene is a little unclear as to where one of the characters is headed, but it is memorable all the same. As I said, the movie is not for all tastes, but western fans who are in a patient mood will likely embrace it despite its flaws.

I enjoy a good western but it would not be fair to this Tommy Lee Jones production to classify it as such without emphasizing the film is more than just a wagon trail journey of two unlikely characters across the rough and unforgiving western terrain. No, it is the story of two unlikely characters, a single and strong willed farmer named Mary Bee Cuddy played by Hilary Swank and a thieving drifter named George Briggs played by Tommy Lee Jones who agree to transport three women by wagon with real psychiatric (madness) problems from Nebraska to Idaho.

There have been hundreds of relatively good westerns produced in the past half century where the hero and heroine remain strong and stoic whilst riding through the barren lands their suits and dresses remain pressed and in pristine condition while their hair is coiffed perfectly, and miraculously the heroine's makeup never dries, cracks or runs. Well such is not the case in the Homesman.

Hilary Swank has never been afraid to shed the glamor of Hollywood and for her role as the stubborn, single, and capable farmer Mary Bee Cuddy the potential suitors that she asks to marry her turn her down and explain that she is far too plain looking, sexless, and too controlling in nature. So Mary Bee Cuddy agrees to make the arduous journey across the western plains maybe in the hope of finding a suitor in Idaho as she has run out of potential suitors in Nebraska and seems to be losing hope in raising a family on her own farm in Nebraska.

As Mary Bee Cuddy commences her journey she comes across someone even more homely and desperate than herself in the name of aging drifter George Briggs who is within minutes of losing his life at the end of a rope for illegally claiming mining rights to another persons staked property. The terms set forth by Mary Bee Cuddy before she will agree to free George Briggs from his futile situation and imminent death by hanging are simple. He must first agree to travel across the western plains of Nebraska to assist Mary Bee Cuddy in the transportation of three insane women to a church in Idaho where they will receive the care and attention they will require to survive.

And so the two hardened caretakers and their three insane passengers set out on their journey which I found to be not like any other western I had previously seen. This is not a humorous and light hearted western but a tough, grueling, and sad journey with what I was surprised provided unexpected results. Some people may not be happy with the last 30 minutes of this feature film, but this is actually where writer/actor/director Tommy Lee Jones hooked me with what I felt was a good feature film that ended strongly.

There are numerous cameos throughout the film including standout performances by Tim Blake Nelson as a lonesome cowboy, John Lithgow as Reverend Dowd, and Jesse Plemons as a derelict husband to one of the insane women. Look for mother Meryl Streep in Idaho as the Reverends wife Altha Carter who enjoys sharing the screen with her real life daughter Grace Gummer who plays one of the three insane women Arabella Sours.

I give the film a good 7 out of 10 rating.