Slow West

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, Roary McCann
Directed by: John Maclean
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Thriller, Western
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary:
A boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) traveling across the West reluctantly hires a dangerous drifter (Michael Fassbender) to help him reach the woman (Caren Pistorius) he loves.

Review:

Tim: Slow West is a bit of an unexpected Western. It's a solidly made, entertaining movie. I didn't quite love it, but it was enjoyable from start to finish. It's a movie with a few fun flourishes that give it just enough of a unique feel to make it memorable. This is a movie worth seeing.

The story is fairly straightforward, as many Westerns are. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays a boy traveling across the West to find the woman he loves. There's nothing unique about this, but the movie plays with those conventions and gives this story enough surprises and unexpected twists to keep viewers interested. The whole story is written very well- as if someone researched the typical Western cliches, started going down those paths, and just when you felt like you knew what was going to happen next, the story veers off in an unexpected direction. That's one of the biggest strengths of the film and it was quite enjoyable.

Smit-McPhee does a good job in the lead role. He has talent as an actor and his everyman, boyish, naivety makes you care about him. Michael Fassbender was wonderfully cast as the roguish outlaw who teams up with him. Fassbender and Smit-McPhee have good chemistry and many of the film's best moments involve interactions with these two. Their odd relationship really serves as the heart of this movie. Fassbender is a great actor and I love that he continually chooses roles like this one. This film won't necessarily make him an even bigger star, but it's a good part that he is able to sink his teeth into. I enjoyed Ben Mendelsohn as the film's antagonist. There's just something dangerous and off-putting about him that makes him perfect for this kind of role. Caren Pistorius was good and it's always fun to see Roary McCann- I actually loved his small performance here. The cast as a whole isn't comprised of the biggest names, but it's an excellent cast.

I just want to touch on a few of the aforementioned flourishes that make this film unique. They happen in these small, unexpected moments. One involves Smit-McPhee and Fassbender coming across a man killed by a fallen tree. There's no real reason for this scene, other than a humorous way of conveying the growing friendship between these two. There were dozens of tried-and-true methods for accomplishing this, but this movie chose a unique one. Another scene occurs later where a character gets shot, and then a moment later, a jar of salt gets shot, the salt falling into his open wound. It's a weird, beautifully poetic moment where this character literally and figuratively gets salt poured into his wound. It's a bit bizarre because no one puts moments like that in their film, but it works.

Now, while I very much liked this movie, I didn't love it. I believe this has much to do with director John Maclean. This was his feature film directorial debut and it shows. Now, that's not to take anything away from Maclean- he wrote and directed a film that was surprising, entertaining, unexpected, and just a little bit odd. As far as directorial debuts go, this is one of the more impressive ones you'll see. However, inexperience almost always shows up, and Maclean can't claim to have gotten everything out of this story that he could have. There was unrealized potential here. He directs a good movie that's a long way away from being great. However, he shows so much promise and has so many wonderful moments here that I expect big things from him.

So, while Slow West could have been better, this is still a good, entertaining film. Too few Westerns are made these days, so I loved getting to see this one. I would certainly recommend this film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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