Kelly Reichardt's (Old Joy/Wendy & Lucy) latest is an 18th century fable of a couple guys trying to corner the market w/their savory muffins even though their stealing the ingredients to make those sweet edibles. Cookie, played by John Magaro, is attached to a skinning outfit but due to the scarcity of game, he has to make do w/what he can find which angers his party to no end. During one of his scavenging runs, he comes across an erudite Chinese man, played by Orion Lee, who's hiding out from some Russians who are after him so Cookie does the humane thing & hides him until the threat passes. Once they reach a settlement, Magaro drifts around but in a fit of serendipitous luck runs into Lee & through sheer gumption decide to make sweet muffins or as they call it "oily cakes" to sell to a hungry populace who buy them as fast as they make them but their success is hindered by a secret; they're stealing the milk to make the cakes from the only cow in the area owned by a wealthy businessman, played by Toby Jones, who just so happens to love their product so much he commissions a special dish when some influential guests come to dine at his home. Instead of possibly saving up money to buy their own cow or at the very least play their theft by ear, they continue to skirt their own safety ultimately getting caught & chased into the hills being pursued by Jones' men (one of which is played Ewen Bremner of Trainspotting fame). Slight but colorful in the extreme, this effort is of a piece w/all of Reichardt's work which tend to be regional (her films usually take place in the Pacific Northwest) but given the fact no one else is doing what she's doing (maybe Debra Granik (Winter's Bone/Leave No Trace) can stake a claim since her films kind of skew towards landscape melodramas as well), she's kind of cornered the market by delightful default. Co-starring Gary Farmer as an Indian noble, Stephen Malkmus (lead singer of the band Pavement) as a fiddler, Rene Auberjonois (in probably one of his last roles since he passed recently) as a member of the settlement & Scott Shepherd (he played Jean Grey's dad in Dark Phoenix) as Jones' esteemed guest.
