An intriguing but overly leisurely drama: The Homesman Film Review
MOMENTS of humor sit oddly amid the grimness and the story ultimately doesn’t amount to much in Tommy Lee Jones' new movie
Tommy Lee Jones stars in and directs The Homesman
The Homesman ***
(15, 123mins)
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
Stars: Hillary Swank, Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones stars in and directs The Homesman, an intriguing but overly leisurely drama which examines the hardships faced by women in the Old West. Based on a novel by Glendon Swarthout, it stars Hillary Swank as a tough pioneer, Mary Bee Cuddy (deemed “too bossy and plain” to be wife material), who is charged with transporting three mentally damaged women back East; all the victim in some respects of the unforgiving environment.
The Homesman International Trailer
Jones plays a boozer and thief George Briggs who accompanies her and gradually straightens himself out while seeing off Indians and performing other manly duties. Moments of humor sit oddly amid the grimness and the story ultimately doesn’t amount to much (a twist designed to shock fails to ring true) but it’s strongly acted and atmospheric.