In Oregon in 1933, four years into the Great Depression, Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) is unjustly torn from his daughter, Penny (Avy Berry) and sent to a brutal labor camp. Considering his honesty and being a veteran, Warden J.J. Clancy (Russell Crowe) tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through the deadly Oregon wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he'll go to see his child again.
Others to round out the cast are Julia Jones as Anna, Austin Amelio as Rankin, Avi Nash as Singh, Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen as Olson, Sam Hazeldine as Amis, George Burgess as Letender, Alec Newman George Taggert and Cameron Brady as The Man.
This was directed with incredible calculating intensity and amazing grit by Padraic McKinley (TV series). Unless this film was a fluke, this filmmaker is a natural considering this is his first feature film. Sure, he does have TV under his belt which has served him well, however, the nuances that this director showed in getting his actors to dig deep so as to convince the audience of the different personas involved was next to perfection. He will definitely receive more work. It was equally well penned by writers Matthew Booi ("Trench 11" '17) plus TV, and Shelby Gaines ("Wildcat" '23). As with the directing, was this flawless? No, but other than that of a couple of very small places of choppiness where it was a bit questionable, the script was spot on, especially considering the limited feature film experience. I predominantly went to see this due to the actors, Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe whom are consummate in their profession, but Hawke truly shined here breathing life into a complex individual with a persona that ranged from a slow crawl to a gallop effortlessly. Crowe was his usual solid role, but as compared, he practically yawned through this. It was Hawke that was amazing
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: R 112mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment