Former Oscars staple Hilary Swank fits capably into the role of stiff and
stern pioneer woman Mary Bee Cuddy, described frequently as "plain as an
old tin pail". Tough independent women don't exactly make good marrying
material in the Nebraska frontier, and poor Cuddy has been alone her entire
life, practically begging men to marry her and finding no takers. Her
loneliness has one terrible upside, though; she doesn't turn out batshit crazy
like many of the married women forced to deal with sexually abusive husbands or
the incredibly high death rate for children. Three such women (Grace Gummer,
Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter) have gone loopy and since none of the men are
willing to do it, poor single Cuddy volunteers to transport them to a
psychiatric facility in Iowa. It's a dangerous weeks-long journey by wagon, so
it's a good thing she happens upon goofy claim jumper George Briggs, rescuing
him from a sure hanging for his past crimes.
Briggs is both the best and worst thing about the film. He might as well be
a cartoon character; rootin' and tootin' and dancin' with his finger pistols up
in the air like Yosemite Sam. He's absolutely ridiculous and lord knows the
film needs what little humor he provides, but at the same time we're meant to
take him and this deadly journey seriously. Jones seems unsure of the tone he's
aiming for and it lurches wildly from comedy to bleak melodrama with images of
dead babies, rotting cattle, and women wailing in despair. The deranged female
cargo, all played by spectacularly talented actresses, don't get much to do but
stare blankly so there's no real reason to tell them apart. The relationship
between the plainspoken Cuddy and Grimes resembles the central pair in True Grit, and there's even a brief
cameo by Hailee Steinfeld who had her breakout role in the Coen Brothers'
remake.
If this was meant to be an exercise in female empowerment The Homesman chooses
an odd way to go about it. Cuddy's personal strength is her greatest asset but
it's frequently played up for strangely-timed laughs, just as her desperation
for a man is. The journey, which has them encountering angry Native Americans,
a rapist nutjob (Tim Blake Nelson), starvation, and desolate surroundings
begins to put her mettle to the test, and to say Cuddy's story is a somber one
would be an understatement. The screenplay by Jones and a pair of co-writers
are intent on making her tale as sad as possible, and the turn it takes comes
out of nowhere, presumably so the focus can shift even further to Briggs. Just
as nonsensical is the change in his character from clownish rogue to avenging
angel to unlikely father figure; it only serves to take the attention away from
the plight of women, casting them fully into the background. Jones is clearly
comfortable in the genre, though, taking his old school cinematic cues from the
likes of John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. But The Homesman is a complete
mess from start to finish. It's both too dark and too silly, and is unlikely to
satisfy fans of contemporary or classic Westerns.
Rating: 2 out of 5
