A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.
RELEASED IN LATE 2017 and written & directed by Scott Cooper, “Hostiles” is a Western starring Christian Bale as a renowned Army captain who grudgingly agrees to escort a dying hated chief (Wes Studi) & his family from New Mexico to Cheyenne lands in Montana in 1892. Rosamund Pike plays a grieving settler that the detail picks up on the way. Rory Cochrane plays Sgt. Metz and Jonathan Majors Corp. Woodsen.
While the flick starts great and the Western "road movie" plot is full of potential, some elements are too contrived/unlikely (e.g. the whole fur trapper episode) or wannabe heavy (e.g. Sgt. Metz' apology in the rain) and the film just wallows in unrelenting glumness. Still, there is some good in it and you’ll discern a glimmer here or there. It's just that after the excellent set-up, I thought I was in for a great Western, but it wasn't to be. The script needed serious rewriting.
THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours & 14 minutes and was shot in New Mexico/Arizona/Colorado. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Donald E. Stewart.
GRADE: C/C- (4.5/10)
_Four Weddings and a Funeral Except the Weddings Were Actually Just Extra Funerals._
_Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._