This was an interesting film to cover. I remember seeing the cover in the video store growing up. I'll be honest though; I had no interest in seeing this. Even after learning that it was Johnny Depp, which wasn't enough for me. Jaime had never heard of this film and we decided on it due to it being next in line for our podcast, Depp Dive: A Depper Look at Johnny's Feature Filmography.
As we were settling in to watch this, I learned that this was a Jim Jarmusch film. I've seen two of his that border into horror with The Dead Don't Die and Only Lovers Left Alive. I warned Jaime that this was going to be surreal and an arthouse movie. That is what we're getting here. William Blake (Depp) travels from Cleveland to the wild west to take a job as an accountant. The problem is that by the time he arrives, that position has been given to someone else. He tries to reason with the owner, John Dickinson (Robert Mitchum), but to no avail.
He doesn't have much money left so he buys a bottle of alcohol from the local saloon. Leaving that bar, he meets Thel Russell (Mili Avital), who invites him to her room. They're interrupted by Charlie Dickinson (Gabriel Byrne). This ends in tragedy as Charlie kills Thel for a comment that she made about not loving him. William fires her gun back, killing the man. Charlie is the son of John, who hires bounty hunters to find William. He's wanted dead or alive.
What we're getting here is a coming-of-age story for William as he's hunted by Cole Wilson (Lance Henriksen), Conway Twill (Michael Wincott) and Johnny 'The Kid' Pickett (Eugene Byrd), amongst others. William gets help from an odd Native American named Nobody (Gary Farmer). His time out here hardens him and the more he kills, the more ruthless he becomes.
Now everything that I've given here is like the first thirty to forty minutes of this movie. This runs for almost two hours and I don't know if we need all that. I get that this is artistic and surreal. It is filmed in black and white. The stories and things we're seeing are given almost like vignettes. Jaime wasn't a fan, but I could work with it. My issue here is things drag on too long and it doesn't necessarily hold my attention. I enjoy the story. I love seeing the development of Depp's character. The problem though is that there's a bit too much fat on the bone here.
What is also great is that we're getting another movie with Depp and a great supporting cast. I like Farmer and his character. It did feel odd him playing a Native American, but how they explain it makes sense so no issues here. There's an appearance early here of Crispin Glover that is odd. He sets the stage for William before he arrives in the town that he's headed to. I like Henriksen, Wincott and Byrd as this group of bounty hunters. John Hurt plays John Scholfield who is the secretary to Mitchum. We also have Iggy Pop, Jared Harris and Byrne. Everyone plays such odd and quirky characters, but it just seems to work. That helps my enjoyment.
I'll then finish out with the filmmaking. I've already mentioned my issue with the length. That's the biggest gripe. I thought that cinematography does well in capturing the wilderness. What is intriguing there is that it feels like every time our characters turn a corner, they'll run into another group. That made me feel like something would come after the Coen Brothers with O Brother, Where Art Thou? Since I'm a fan of that movie, I like that journey and almost mythological feel. There are limited effects, but what we got there looked good. The soundtrack and design also fit what was needed without necessarily standing out.
What I'll say is that this isn't one that I can recommend to everyone. If you like movies like this or you're a Jarmusch fan, then give this a god. There are flaws, but on the whole, I enjoyed what we got here.
My Rating: 7 out of 10.
As we were settling in to watch this, I learned that this was a Jim Jarmusch film. I've seen two of his that border into horror with The Dead Don't Die and Only Lovers Left Alive. I warned Jaime that this was going to be surreal and an arthouse movie. That is what we're getting here. William Blake (Depp) travels from Cleveland to the wild west to take a job as an accountant. The problem is that by the time he arrives, that position has been given to someone else. He tries to reason with the owner, John Dickinson (Robert Mitchum), but to no avail.
He doesn't have much money left so he buys a bottle of alcohol from the local saloon. Leaving that bar, he meets Thel Russell (Mili Avital), who invites him to her room. They're interrupted by Charlie Dickinson (Gabriel Byrne). This ends in tragedy as Charlie kills Thel for a comment that she made about not loving him. William fires her gun back, killing the man. Charlie is the son of John, who hires bounty hunters to find William. He's wanted dead or alive.
What we're getting here is a coming-of-age story for William as he's hunted by Cole Wilson (Lance Henriksen), Conway Twill (Michael Wincott) and Johnny 'The Kid' Pickett (Eugene Byrd), amongst others. William gets help from an odd Native American named Nobody (Gary Farmer). His time out here hardens him and the more he kills, the more ruthless he becomes.
Now everything that I've given here is like the first thirty to forty minutes of this movie. This runs for almost two hours and I don't know if we need all that. I get that this is artistic and surreal. It is filmed in black and white. The stories and things we're seeing are given almost like vignettes. Jaime wasn't a fan, but I could work with it. My issue here is things drag on too long and it doesn't necessarily hold my attention. I enjoy the story. I love seeing the development of Depp's character. The problem though is that there's a bit too much fat on the bone here.
What is also great is that we're getting another movie with Depp and a great supporting cast. I like Farmer and his character. It did feel odd him playing a Native American, but how they explain it makes sense so no issues here. There's an appearance early here of Crispin Glover that is odd. He sets the stage for William before he arrives in the town that he's headed to. I like Henriksen, Wincott and Byrd as this group of bounty hunters. John Hurt plays John Scholfield who is the secretary to Mitchum. We also have Iggy Pop, Jared Harris and Byrne. Everyone plays such odd and quirky characters, but it just seems to work. That helps my enjoyment.
I'll then finish out with the filmmaking. I've already mentioned my issue with the length. That's the biggest gripe. I thought that cinematography does well in capturing the wilderness. What is intriguing there is that it feels like every time our characters turn a corner, they'll run into another group. That made me feel like something would come after the Coen Brothers with O Brother, Where Art Thou? Since I'm a fan of that movie, I like that journey and almost mythological feel. There are limited effects, but what we got there looked good. The soundtrack and design also fit what was needed without necessarily standing out.
What I'll say is that this isn't one that I can recommend to everyone. If you like movies like this or you're a Jarmusch fan, then give this a god. There are flaws, but on the whole, I enjoyed what we got here.
My Rating: 7 out of 10.