Meek's Cutoff (C or 2/4 stars)
A revisionist Western. Good actors. Sounds promising, right? Well, 'Meek's Cutoff' (written & directed by Kelly Reinhardt) tried to be the good little indie art house charmer that it aims to be. But unfortunately, I found it a touch too pretentious & slow-paced to enjoy. The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, & a wagon train of 3 families has hired local mountain man Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. All they've got are a few wagons, some donkeys, horses, pales of dwindling water, a gun, etc.. They trek across the barren land hoping to find food/water & settle. But these folks aren't settled - in more ways than one. Meek is a babbling, jittery, violent man who may be misguiding them all along; though he insists on his accuracy. The journey was meant to be 2 weeks in length, & they're into week 5. No end is in sight. And resources are way short.
The women have minds of their own, but let the husbands do the decision-making {think of the time & place}. That changes, though, when a solitary Native American is spotted. His presence in these quiet trails frightens the band of emigrants (including Mrs. Tetherow, played by Michelle Williams; her husband, played by Will Patton; and others played by Shirley Henderson, Paul Dano & Zoe Kazan). And the scarred Indian is captured by Meek & Mr. Tetherow. Some argue that he'll lead them to more deadly Indians, so he should be killed; but Solomon reasons that he could be used to find water & their destination. And the decision is made to continue on with said Indian. Nothing much happens after this (ugh). Gradually, a sense of dread seeps into the film, however. Should they still trust Meek? Why is the Indian suddenly smiling? Does he plan to ambush them? Or will he actually help them reach the valley they so seek? Can they survive?
I see what the writer/director was trying to do, here. She tried to make a minimalist epic. She tried to capture - painstakingly - what it was like to live & die in the frontier wilderness. And she tried to show a feminist angle; the Michelle Williams character makes decisions which shift the dynamic of power, a bit. That's all well & good. But too much of this film is a slow, depressing slog. I wanted to appreciate the arduous, spare lives that these protagonists had to endure. But I just couldn't. I liked the idea of observing their every. single. move. But the lack of a fully developed storyline hindered that. I wanted to care about whatever they were mumbling about. But the dialogue (sometimes disappearing for 5 minutes at a clip) was SO muffled, it's as if the director didn't want us hearing segments! But I definitely appreciated both Jeff Grace's eerie score & Christopher Blauvelt's atmospheric, panoramic cinematography.
Furthermore, I can't berate the acting. And Michelle Williams is particularly good as the unsentimental, determined Mrs. Tetherow. Williams has a knack of finding a cool, quiet center to all of her performances. And as the steely wife with an opinion ... this is in line with the actress' other works. But what I have to come back to is the tedium I had while watching. I hate to say it, but 'Meek's Cutoff' is EXACTLY the type of film that most movie-goers would criticize as being calculated, high-minded 'watching paint dry' cinema (you can miss 15 minutes & not have missed anything). It is as vivid in its details (gathering firewood, loading muskets) as it is punishingly tedious. And a final note on the ending: while it has stuck with me more now (then when I watched it), it's hard to stick with a film like this ... only to have the conclusion be as open-ended as it is. Stark realism is only effective when there is a pay-off. 'Meek's Cutoff' goes nowhere.
The women have minds of their own, but let the husbands do the decision-making {think of the time & place}. That changes, though, when a solitary Native American is spotted. His presence in these quiet trails frightens the band of emigrants (including Mrs. Tetherow, played by Michelle Williams; her husband, played by Will Patton; and others played by Shirley Henderson, Paul Dano & Zoe Kazan). And the scarred Indian is captured by Meek & Mr. Tetherow. Some argue that he'll lead them to more deadly Indians, so he should be killed; but Solomon reasons that he could be used to find water & their destination. And the decision is made to continue on with said Indian. Nothing much happens after this (ugh). Gradually, a sense of dread seeps into the film, however. Should they still trust Meek? Why is the Indian suddenly smiling? Does he plan to ambush them? Or will he actually help them reach the valley they so seek? Can they survive?
I see what the writer/director was trying to do, here. She tried to make a minimalist epic. She tried to capture - painstakingly - what it was like to live & die in the frontier wilderness. And she tried to show a feminist angle; the Michelle Williams character makes decisions which shift the dynamic of power, a bit. That's all well & good. But too much of this film is a slow, depressing slog. I wanted to appreciate the arduous, spare lives that these protagonists had to endure. But I just couldn't. I liked the idea of observing their every. single. move. But the lack of a fully developed storyline hindered that. I wanted to care about whatever they were mumbling about. But the dialogue (sometimes disappearing for 5 minutes at a clip) was SO muffled, it's as if the director didn't want us hearing segments! But I definitely appreciated both Jeff Grace's eerie score & Christopher Blauvelt's atmospheric, panoramic cinematography.
Furthermore, I can't berate the acting. And Michelle Williams is particularly good as the unsentimental, determined Mrs. Tetherow. Williams has a knack of finding a cool, quiet center to all of her performances. And as the steely wife with an opinion ... this is in line with the actress' other works. But what I have to come back to is the tedium I had while watching. I hate to say it, but 'Meek's Cutoff' is EXACTLY the type of film that most movie-goers would criticize as being calculated, high-minded 'watching paint dry' cinema (you can miss 15 minutes & not have missed anything). It is as vivid in its details (gathering firewood, loading muskets) as it is punishingly tedious. And a final note on the ending: while it has stuck with me more now (then when I watched it), it's hard to stick with a film like this ... only to have the conclusion be as open-ended as it is. Stark realism is only effective when there is a pay-off. 'Meek's Cutoff' goes nowhere.