The Homesman (2014) – Movie Review ★★★★½

“I Wish You Would Say One Kind Word To Me”

Director: Tommy Lee Jones – Cast: Hilary Swank, Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep, Hailee Steinfeld, John Lithgow, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, William Fichtner and James Spader – Synopsis: Three women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by Mary Bee Cuddy (Swank), who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs (Lee Jones) to assist her – Overall: Hilary Swank gives a towering performance as Mary Bee Cuddy a no-nonsense, independent farmer from Nebraska, Swank manages to humanize her character, capturing her weaknesses, her overwhelming loneliness but also her ability to stand up as equal to the male characters in the movie, it’s Swank who ignites The Homesman it’s a truly remarkable and haunting display that burrows deep beneath your skin – it’s a level of performance I feel that only a handful of today’s actresses could actually pull off – along with starring as the quirky drifter George Briggs Tommy Lee Jones orchestrates masterfully behind the camera delivering us a Grimm, Unusual yet Enthralling Western, it’s a film stacked with brutal realism, a dark subject matter & without being over exploitive it succeeds in shocking & surprising allowing its powerful message to be told with an intelligent hand – The movies stunning cinematography is captured by Rodrigo Prieto (Brokeback Mountain) who brings the vast emptiness of the West alive and adds to the pictures devastating and overall bleak narrative, this combined with Marco Beltrami’s wonderful & at times heart wrenching score, loads of wonderful cameo’s the best being James Spader’s arrogant Irish Hotel Owner unwisely pissing off Briggs being one of the best and possibly one of the craziest (didn’t see that coming) moments in cinematic history makes Tommy Lee Jones The Homesman a must watch and one of the best western’s for many a year !!