Natalie Portman fights to defend her land, her man, and her future as a gunslinger in the west, while dodging bullets and attack as one-half of the most wanted couple in the country. “Jane Got a Gun” centers on Jane Hammond (Portman), who has built a new life with her husband Bill “Ham” Hammond (Noah Emmerich) after being tormented by the ultra-violent Bishop Boys outlaw gang, led by the dangerously vicious Colin McCann (Ewan Mcgregor). She finds herself in the gang’s cross hairs once again when Ham stumbles home riddled with bullets after dueling with the Boys and their relentless mastermind Colin. With the vengeful crew hot on Ham’s trail, Jane has nowhere to turn but to her former fiancé Dan Frost (Joel Edgarton) for help in defending her family against certain destruction. Haunted by old memories, Jane’s past meets the present in a heart-stopping battle for survival that puts everyone in her life at risk. “Jane Got a Gun” is rated R, and directed by Gavin O’ Connor (Warrior).

Gavin O’ Connor has been an underdog favorite of mine for years, ever since his 2012 film “Warrior” took home the honors for my favorite film of that year. He (Along with long-time writing partner Anthony Tambakis) is a master of layer-by-layer storytelling, and his latest film “Jane Got a Gun” is a fine example of a western homage complete with modern drama. O’Connor is certainly someone who pays attention to every detail, so in turn we are treated to a visual treat to the days of the dangerous west, complete with wide angle shots of beautiful landscape as far as the eyes can see. The movie really captures that kind of loneliness feeling for our three main protagonists with this gang of torturers hot on their tails. There’s a perfect feeling of imminent death in the air, and it sets the perfect mood for things to come by a third act that never stimps on the gunpower. The action is sporatically laid out, but the sound mixing/editing is very complimentary to the breathtaking surprises behind every corner. For most of the movie, our main characters can’t see what is coming, so it captures the attention of the audience that much more when the bullets start flying out of total darkness. The film’s pacing is typically slow for a western, but I feel that the movie does enough with this storytelling onion of Jane’s past that peels itself back one layer at a time, opting for character development instead of nonstop violence.

The performances are solid enough, even if there isn’t a lot to do for a majority of the characters. Noah Emmerich is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets, showcasing a quiet exterior met with a mean streak interior that really puts the character as quite a wild card. Emmerich is confined to a bed for a majority of the film, so sadly we don’t get to see him shine too much, but one thing the film didn’t do was stimp on the audience’s emotional investment to his character. At the beginning of the movie, I saw him as kind of a third wheel who didn’t deserve Jane as much as Dan Frost did, but boy was I wrong. The movie keeps reverting back to the past to provide backstory on what led these characters to this point, and I don’t feel none are as fortunate with this method like Emmerich’s character. Slowly we learn that he is every bit as honorable as his other male co-star, and it makes our emotions in another character that much more meaningful. Portman is a solid display of emotional range as usual. My problem with her character is that she really is nothing more than an arm piece until the final twenty minutes of the movie. Whether this was intentional with the writing or not, doesn’t leave me curious on her lack of involvement in a movie that is named after her character. Ewan Mcgregor is unrecognizable with dark hair and a mustache to match. The film’s prosthetics give him a look of twenty years younger, and its quite easy to forget who is playing the role. It’s truly unsettling to see how easily he played a character with such evil, but he was brilliant in the film. Without question though, this is leaps and bounds a Joel Edgarton show-stealer again. Joel is working his way up film-by-film investing everything he has into a wide range of characters he has played so far. So much heartache and pain is said in just one of his quiet glimpses. A sure sign of a major star in the making.

I did have a couple of problems creatively that hindered some of the storyline advancements. For one, I mentioned how the movie does kind of hault slowly during some parts. Even for a western, it does feel slow mostly because of the heavy-handed idea of telling two stories at once. The film’s idea to go back to the past so frequently is what hinders the progress in the present on more times than one. To me, I would’ve liked this story being told out in real time, starting with the past and ending with the closing events in this film. It’s during these very occurances that the film does feel a little manipulative with its audience, and as a result some people will find very little trust in the telling of this script and its characters.

“Jane Got a Gun” is a decent attempt at a pro-feminist story during a time when the world lacked that inspirational female voice. The problem comes in its main character never finding that voice until its too late. O’Connor’s film is a passing effort, but definitely comes at an error-filled price.

6/10