Hostiles (2017)
Last Watch Date - February 17, 2024
Total Times Watched - Once
Comments
A few weeks back, I had been looking for a Western to watch. Something in the vein of 3:10 to Yuma maybe. I looked at some "related films" of it and found this movie which was NOT streaming anywhere. While at a second-hand store, I found it for a few bucks and decided to grab it.
From the cover, you can see Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike. She seems to be in everything lately. I realize this movie is now 7 years old, but I've seen her in so much in the last few years when I had never seen her before let's say.. 2020? Or I hadn't noticed her I suppose. There are some other actors you'd probably recognize in this as well: Timothee Chalamet and Ben Foster are of note. If you liked Empire Records or Dazed and Confused, Rory Cochrane is also in it.
This movie is a serious drama, and the acting fits it well. Christian Bale has to be one of the best actors of his generation, if not THE best. His character is a battle-hardened, if not weary, captain of the US Army. He conveys the questionable background really well: a man who has slaughtered tons of Natives and has no qualms about doing it again. But also a man who has a tender side and can sympathize with Rosamund Pike's character who loses her entire family in an Indian raid. Don't worry, that's not a spoiler. It's the very first thing that happens in the movie. The interactions between soldiers feels real, and there's a forcing of introspection for Bale's character because of some of those interactions.
The movie is pretty grim and dark. Wait, is this a Warhammer movie!? But it does feel like a more accurate portrayal of the frontier days than something like Gunsmoke. I suppose that's obvious given the tone and time of both. I really have to be in the mood for this type of movie. It's taxing to watch and put yourself into these peoples' shoes. There are just SO MANY messed up things happening to them. I was also glad to see there wasn't any forced romance or odd subplots that derailed just how grim this movie is. My first reaction to seeing Rosamund a widow and Bale coming to her rescue was "oh god not a romance." It doesn't happen. Boom, spoiled. There's no attempt from either side. It's two pretty broken people trying to do their best with the cards they've been dealt.
With a movie this sombre, it needs to move things along and prevent a dragged-out, sloppy ending. For the most part, I think this movie succeeded on that. The journey itself reminds me a bit of 1883, with a sweet and sour finish after a plodding and difficult journey through the frontier. But unlike 1883, this movie only lasts 2 hours instead of 10. It's a much more digestible format for me, and I would argue the limited runtime of movies forces story tellers to optimize for what they're trying to convey, rather than allowing them hours of filler and C, D, or E plots that no one really cares about.
Recommended?
Do you like Westerns? Do you like depressing movies? Well then, I've got a movie for you! It's a discomfiting, but somewhat rewarding movie that captures the feeling of a much-romanticized yet woefully under-represented era.
