In his two films as a director, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” (2005) and now “The Homesman,” actor and Texas native Tommy Lee Jones has shown an affinity for the American West and the strong though often peculiar force field it exerts on human souls. It celebrates the ones we hear nothing of-the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by that life of bitter hardship. In Tommy Lee Jones' odd and It costars Hilary Swank, Miranda Otto, Grace Gummer and Sonja Richter. The rough lot handed to women in the Old West remains a footnote in the cinematic history of cowboy days, but it figures front and center in The Homesman. English Articles. … Live Statistics. One’s an American western about a woman in Nebraska Territory trying to bring three women from West to East. Mary Bee Cuddy (Hillary Swank) lives on a big farm in the old west. Vision of Old West rings true in ‘Homesman’ Posted on November 25, 2014 by houstongreenscreen.com The film occupies that peculiar space that many of us would prefer to believe doesn’t exist, a movie that’s worthy but often inert, by turns enriching and … We have had many movies about the West, modern myth-busting movies that talk about its savagery, its sexism, its casual violence, its ingrained racism. The Homesman, a Captivating Drama of the Old West (Film Review) December 5th, 2014 John Delia . Apart from the surly old bandit referred to by the film’s title, nearly all the characters of import in Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Homesman” are women. In Tommy Lee Jones' odd and affecting western The Homesman, three women who have lost their minds are being transported to an Iowa church - a rugged journey of many weeks across land occupied by Indians and thieves. ... a bonneted Nebraska frontierswoman in The Homesman who keeps repeating that she's "plain as an old … In 'The Homesman,' A Most Unromantic American West. ... Top it off with a stellar cast, an original story line and actors that give Oscar worthy performances. Although the actors and crew argue about whether or not The Homesman is a Western, the film is set in the 1850s of what was the West at the time, the Nebraska Territory (although much of it is filmed in northern New Mexico). Still not excited about seeing the film? Tales of the Old West continue to make up a significant portion of our cultural narrative, mostly because we still like to comfort ourselves with stories showing that ours is a land of opportunity. It's a curious cargo in the wooden wagon, pulled by a pair of mules named Grace and Redemption, moving east across the Nebraska plains. The only thing I like more than reading a novel that takes place in the Old West is when that novel takes place in Nebraska. As hard as it might be to believe, ‘The Homesman’ is his first western as director and co-writer. Top it off with a stellar cast, an original story line and actors that give Oscar worthy performances. ‎The Homesman is a devastating, humane story of early pioneers to America's West in the 1850's. This movie will not be for everyone, it can be slow, but if you stick with it, the pay off is good, because you get to … It is exciting to see women in this era so deftly and sensitively explored on film. T he Homesman is the story of George Briggs (Jones), a man hired to take a group of women back home to the East, after their frontier lives have left them mentally broken. Titled The Homesman… Added in 24 Hours. I so often have no recollection of how I come across certain books, and The Homesman, by Glendon Swarthout is no exception. ‘The Homesman’ features a tough Tommy Lee Jones as actor, Broken by the Old West | Entertainment | buffalonews.com You have permission to edit this article. Directed by Tommy Lee Jones. This is not a western, yeah you have horses, gun fights, and it takes place in the west, but what “The Homesman” is, is a period drama that happens to take place in the old west. November 13, 2014. While no novel will compare with Willa Cather’s amazing My Antonia, I always enjoy reading about what my home state was like in the 1800s.. In 'The Homesman,' Wind Is The Sound Of Insanity Two composers became instrument builders to score the film, set in the pioneer days of the American West. Three women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by covered wagon by the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy, who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs to assist her. How about calling this movie a very compelling drama that takes place in the 1800’s west. Just better. The Homesman has been described enthusiastically by some critics as "a feminist western" but, predictably, Jones rejects the label. Certain images immediately come to mind when one thinks of the Old West (or more affectionately dubbed the "Wild West"). As an actor, Tommy Lee Jones’ career has been hit and miss. Improved in 24 Hours. The Homesman is directed and co ... No Country for Old Men, ... Burials of Melquiades Estrada spring to mind — devoted to sucking the romance out of every last myth of the American West. Why Hilary Swank Breaks Your Heart in 'The Homesman' ... Women in the Old West were a civilizing element, and a lot of the old westerns make fun of that, in a … With Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto. “The Homesman”: Mental Health Issues in the Old West Posted on December 1, 2014 by Ros Johnson Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones are getting kudos for their roles in the new female-centric Western called The Homesman , directed and co-written by Jones. 'THE HOMESMAN': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Tommy Lee Jones directed, co-wrote and stars in this western/drama film (set in the 1850s midwest) about a 'spinster' and a 'drifter' transporting three women, driven mad by the hardships of the time, across the country. Though this is his third film as director, Tommy Lee Jones had not yet tackled one of the genres he had become such a picture of. So you’re not into the western genre? Apart from the surly old bandit referred to by the film’s title, nearly all the characters of import in Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Homesman” are women. The Homesman is a horror comedy. It's hard to imagine anyone volunteering to sit through "Homesman" twice, but it's far from a waste of time. It's a curious cargo in the wooden wagon, pulled by a pair of mules named Grace and Redemption, moving east across the Nebraska plains. The novel, which filmmakers have been trying to portray cinematically for 25 years, is stunning in its realism of the hardships women faced during the “Winning of the West.” Although, Jones is portrayed as selfish, old man, the story on the outset, somewhat resembles “The African Queen” (1951).The old classic depicted an odd romance between odd couples with opposite temperaments. From tales of "cowboys and Indians" to grand adventures in saloons, most of what we think we know about this period in history is informed by what we've seen on television and film. The Homesman Dir: Tommy Lee Jones. Here, people work very hard just to stay alive and are in constant danger – not only from random indigenous war parties, but also from outlaw gangs who enjoy a lot of roaming-around freedom (because there’s too much open territory for The Law to cover). Recent. There aren't ghouls, gremlins or gross-out gags in the latest drama from actor-turned-director Tommy Lee Jones, but its … Quite the same Wikipedia. The Homesman. The Homesman is a feminist western that subverts the genre, showing the brutality of the Old West and focusing on its repercussions on women. “The Homesman” starts off in the style of old frontier movies like "3: 10 to Yuma”, and John Ford movies, but also possesses the grimness and an offbeat structure. The journey in Tommy Lee Jones' "The Homesman", based on the 1988 novel by Glendon Swarthout, travels from west to east, from the unmarked Nebraska territory to a town in Iowa.It is a reverse trajectory of the typical Western path, the wildness of the prairies and plains reverting, startlingly, to a tame village perched on the edge of the placid Missouri River. Titled The Homesman, it’s Tommy Lee Jones’ first attempt at directing and he makes the film an excellent story of early Americana. Not since John Wayne and Montgomery Clift set off on their epic cattle drive in Howard Hawks’s Red River (1948) has there been a more unusual pairing than Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank in Jones’s magnificent new feature, The Homesman. Tommy Lee Jones, right, does battle in The Homesman . 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