4.5/10

When the credits role after this nearly 2 hour dedication to 90’s western films, the first thing that comes to mind is the wasted potential of a cast so strong that it makes an argument for the greatest ensemble of 2014. The Homesman is about three women living on the edge of the American frontier that are driven mad by harsh home maker life. the task of saving them falls to the proud, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank). Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa. she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a low-life drifter, George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) to join her. While this isn’t Jones’s first directing duties, it is his first wide release directing effort, and the mediocrity certainly shows. The problem with The Homesman isn’t necessarily in it’s direction for the settings and scenes that Jones creates, but rather the narration of the story he is trying to tell. The movie clearly casts Swank as a main character who women can get behind. One of the biggest reason many female movie goers cannot get into westerns is simply because they don’t have a character who they can relate to. For at least the first half hour of The Homesman, they are finally given this wish come true only to have it ripped from under them halfway into the movie. Swank becomes a shadow of the character she was written as. She becomes weak, complaining, and dependent upon Jones character for his strength and his love. I don’t want to cast Jones as a man who wrote this film to serve himself as a hero, but it’s hard not to even think about these things when seeing how his character takes charge of the three mental women as well as become the apple to Swank’s eye. I mentioned earlier how the film has an impressive resume for the cast. This includes Hailee Steinfield, James Spader, John Lithgow, and the great Meryl Streep. For those of you who have seen the trailer to this film, you would think that the actors i just named are prominent figures in this film, but you would be wrong. Spader and Lithgow are each given one scene for characters that they play very well. Steinfield shows a much needed young presence during a time when the film is spiraling out of control. The problem with her character though is that we learn nothing about her or her past. We are told that her character meant a lot to Cuddy, but we never find out why. Streep is pehaps the biggest mystery though in this whole debacle. She appears in the last 15 minutes of the film, and isn’t given any long dialogue or any character trait that makes her role stand out above the rest. For my knowledge, i feel like they cast Streep as a big Hollywood name to bring in more people to this film. Those of you who follow Streep in a dedicated fashion will be disappointed. One thing that made 90’s westerns like “Tombstone” and “Unforgiven” such epics is because they kept over 2 hour films very well paced, and endless charisma from their A-list casts. The Homesman seems intent on doing the exact opposite here as there are long periods of silence in a blank country side. The audience will immediatly be reminded of how bored they are every time one of these scenes pop up. One highlight in an otherwise bleak film, is that of the makeup and props department. The wardrobe feels authentic to represent the 1800’s western culture that the film was trying to get across. James Spader’s character in particular is almost unrecognizable as a pushy hotel owner. If you are a fan of the Westerns genre and are looking for a shoot em up fast paced drama that will make you long for the days when these films were commonplace, this film is not the one for you. Tommy Lee Jones crafts a painters-like scenery, but The Homesman offers nothing of substance to go with the setting. I give it a DVD rental if you find it interesting after watching the trailer.