Hostiles

Starring: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang, Bill Camp, Ben Foster, Jesse Plemons, Scott Shepherd, Rory Cochrane, Timothee Chalamet, Adam Beach
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure, Western
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An Army captain (Christian Bale) reluctantly transports an Indian chief (Wes Studi) back to his native land.

Review:

Tim: I'm not sure why, but I've always been intrigued by Scott Cooper. I wouldn't say I love him as a director or anything, but I've certainly been intrigued by him. I was a fan of his very good directorial debut, Crazy Heart. I wanted to see his follow up, Out of the Furnace, but that has continued to be one of those movies that has escaped me- I still haven't seen it. Black Mass was good, but a movie I expected to be better. So, I was looking forward to seeing his fourth film, Hostiles.

This is the kind of movie that I really should have enjoyed. I like Westerns and Cooper has a track record of directing solid movies. There's certainly a lot I liked about the film. However, as it went on, I felt less and less connected to the characters or the story. I ended the movie feeling much less excited about it than I anticipated. It's decent, but it's not as good as it needed to be. The movie was too long- at 2 hours, 14 minutes, it really stretches our interest. One of the biggest issues I had is that I wasn't all that compelled by any of the characters. Christian Bale's character is in the lead, but the movie never gave me a real reason to become invested in him. He's an okay character but somewhat unlikable. Rosamund Pike certainly goes through some real trauma in the film, but that isn't a compelling enough reason to care about her. Truthfully, the character didn't connect with me. I like Wes Studi, but again, besides being a representative of a people who Americans have subjugated and nearly annihilated, I wasn't all that invested in his story. Now, this is problematic, but the issue is exasperated by the longer run time. I would have felt more interest had the film been 25 minutes shorter. As is, I struggled to stay engaged in the story. I simply didn't care as much as I needed to.

Cooper adapted this for the screen, so he deserves some of the blame here. He gets strong performances from his cast. Christian Bale is a great actor. He gives a very strong performance, it just didn't feel like the right one. He doesn't connect enough with the audience, so I was often left wondering why I should care about him. Is it because he's white? Because he's the main character? It felt off. The character as he was presented isn't someone I'm particularly interested in spending two hours with. Now, he goes through a change in the course of the film- that's a big aspect of the story. It's nice to see, but it didn't feel as powerful as the movie needed it to be. It's the same story for Rosamund Pike. Pike is a strong actress and she gives a legitimately effective performance. I was sorry for what happened to her character, but after that initial trauma, her story felt forced. It felt like she accompanied the party because the movie needed a strong female presence, not for any legitimately logical decisions on the part of the character. Wes Studi was quite good, but he doesn't have nearly enough to do. The supporting cast featured some great performances. Ben Foster is almost always excellent and I loved his challenging performance here. He was one of the more memorable aspects of the film. It was great seeing Stephen Lang, Bill Camp, and Timothee Chalamet in smaller roles. I wish each of them had more screen time. Jesse Plemons continues to impress in these small supporting roles. He may never be a leading man, but his presence always makes movies better. I'm a big fan of Adam Beach, but I wish he had more to do. The cast truly was effective, it's just the movie around them that didn't quite live up to expectations.

None of this is to suggest Hostiles is a bad movie. It's a decent Western and it certainly has a number of strengths. However, it ultimately required too much effort for me to stay focused on the characters and story. Cooper wastes way too much time throughout the film, giving the movie a plodding feel which contributes to the too-long run time. He needed to spend less time lingering and more time focused on telling his story.

Hostiles is fine, but given the cast and Cooper's track record, I expected more out of this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Out of the Furnace