Today I had nothing scheduled for the afternoon, and I decided to watch a movie, the one I had available was this: Bone Tomahawk, a Western, just the way I like it, so I decided to watch it, surprise? I do not think so, I really expected a good film, and I got it, however, I think I got more than what I was looking for.
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Year: 2015
Category: Western, Horror.
Director: S. Craig Zahler.
Cast: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Geno Segers, Fred Melamed, Kathryn Morris, Sean Young, Eddie Spears, James Tolkan, Raw Leiba, Michael Paré, Jamison Newlander, Zahn McClarnon, Jay Tavare, Brandon Molale.
Plot
Four men try to recover the wife of one of the citizens of the town, who was kidnapped by a clan of cannibals.
Opinion
The plot is developed in the 1890s, it all starts when two criminals are responsible for murdering a group of travelers while they slept, then decide to hide in the hills because they were scared by what seemed to be the sound of horses, nonetheless, they encounter a kind of Native American cemetery, where they are surprised by what appear to be savages, and while one of the criminals dies, the other manages to flee until he reach a town called Bright Hope, but before, he decides to change his clothes and bury his belongings in a hole.
Soon the town's backup deputy, Chicory, an old man quite committed to perform each of his work functions, informs Franklin Hunt, the Sheriff, of the presence of a strange traveler in town, whom he saw keeping his belongings in a hole, reason why the Sheriff decides with him, to go to the town's saloon with the objective of confronting him.
In the town's saloon the Franklin and Chicory found the criminal, called Buddy, and when they confronts him, he decides to flee, so the Sheriff shoots him in the leg, and then decides to take him to the town police station, but first, ask John Brooder, a citizen of the town, to go in search of the city doctor to take care of Buddy's leg.
The doctor is indisposed, so John Brooder decides to look for the assistant, Samantha, wife of foreman Arthur O'Dwyer, who has a wounded leg. She decides to accompany Brooder to take care of Buddy's wound, and when she sees the seriousness of the situation indicates that she will stay at the police station all night, taking care of him.
In the morning a neighbor goes to the Sheriff's house to report that they have killed a stable boy during the night. When going to the police station the Sheriff can notice that it is empty, Samantha, Buddy, Nick, his deputy, who would spend the night at the police station, have been kidnapped by a troglodyte clan, so the Sheriff, accompanied by the old Chicory, by Samantha's husband Arthur O'Dwyer, and by John Brooder, who volunteers because feels he has responsibility in what happened to Samantha, they decide to go to the territory of the troglodyte clan to recover them.
That's just the beginning, what happens in the first minutes of the film, which has left me quite satisfied, the premise is great, because it is not the classic situation in which they have the best men to do a difficult job, as is the case of The Magnificent Seven, no, because although the Sheriff has considerable ability, and that another of the characters, John Brooder, has a long history of killing Native Americans, the other half of the team is not very promising, Chicory is an old man who despite being charismatic does not have a physical condition suitable for the mission, and on the other hand, Arthur O'Dwyer, despite being the most determined, because his wife's life is in danger, has a wounded leg and must walk with a crutch, so considering the threat he faces and the path to be traveled, his condition is not good at all.
The direction work is great, S. Craig Zahler, director that I barely know, has done a great job, the film takes the time it considers necessary to start the action, but that makes the climax much more intense. S. Craig Zahle was also responsible for writing the script, and I must say that he has also done a fabulous job with him. It's a fairly balanced movie.
The acting work is good, the four main actors, Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, and Richard Jenkins make a great team, no one hinders the other, each one has his place and fulfills his own function, of all of them, which most stood out was Matthew Fox, although not by much, Kurt Russel does a magnificent job too.
Finally I must say that it is a very well done film and highly recommended, it has saved my afternoon. By the way, I must say that the action or violence scenes are quite graphic and bloodthirsty, one of them, probably the hardest, is so crude that it made me question human nature.
Trailer
Score
8/10
Excellent film, very good direction, fantastic script and great performances, all within a very well structured and narrated story. I recommend it.