Directed By Jeymes Samuel

Starring – Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Idris Elba

The Plot – When outlaw Nat Love (Majors) discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Elba) is being released from prison he rounds up his gang to track Rufus down and seek revenge. Those riding with him in this assured, righteously new school Western include his former love Stagecoach Mary (Beetz), his right and left hand men hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (RJ Cyler) and a surprising adversary-turned-ally. Rufus Buck has his own fearsome crew, including “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (Lakeith Stanfield), and they are not a group that knows how to lose.

Rated R for adult language and brutal violence

The Harder They Fall | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube

POSITIVES

– Stacked cast. Sweet Jesus, is this one of the more decorated ensembles of black actors that I’ve ever seen. The prestige in their names is only surpassed by the layering of their performances, to which Samuel grants each of them ample time to flex the depth in their chops for scene-stealing instances. For my money, the elevators are the trio of Majors, King, and especially Stanfield, whose sinister ruthlessness and suave confidence exudes the most devilishly dangerous antagonist that I have seen in a western in quite sometime. King is equally visceral, instilling a woman’s touch to a man’s world that often fools people into a false sense of security for how maniacal she truly is, and giving us a sincerity to her loaded threats that make her the ideal right hand man, or woman, for Elba’s lead antagonist. Finally, Jonathan Majors continues to dazzle with the most physically demanding role of his youthful career, sifting through bullets and stacked oppositions to supplant a character defined by the notion of revenge, and the overwhelming grief that comes with such a task.

– Smoking gun. In only his second directorial effort, Jeymes Samuel proves that he has a uniquely stylish touch to bring to an ages old genre that produces something freshly invigorating for the integrity of this picture. It’s clear that Samuel is certainly a fan of Quentin Tarantino, mainly in the exaggerated emphasis that he constructs in both the intensity of his action, but also in the complexity of his shot compositions, which provide a wide range of scope with the unpredictable devastation coming from all corners of the various sets. In addition to this is certainly the obvious; this being a rarity of westerns capturing the reality of black-dominated towns, which were a factual reality in places like Oklahoma and Arizona. This values characters of color in ways very few westerns have, all the while deconstructing themes of racism and gender bias, which prescribe an eye-opening appeal to aspects that have always been there, as well as a fearlessness in filmmaking that will inevitably make Jeymes a sought after commodity once this film dazzles its audience.

– Harrowing stakes. This film is anything but predictable, made all the more apparent with gruesome brutality and valued characterization that forces you to invest in each of these pocketed dynamics inside of these two feuding clan’s. Because of such, this is very much a film that earns every minute of its 130 minute runtime, creating a simmering tension among these singular aspects that could easily blow at any given minute, but instead continuously builds to an all out ground-shaking climax. In such, the blood soaked canvases surmise as a result of intense sound designs and unapologetic brutality, which reaches a boiling point midway through the film without feeling unnecessarily exploitative. It captures the vulnerability of the wild west seamlessly in a way that a majority of western’s surprisingly underscore, and cements “The Harder They Fall” as so much more than just another clever title.

– Cucumber cool. Much to my surprise, but one that plays into the Tarantino comparison that I previously made, is a hip enveloping for the consistency of the film’s tonal capacities that takes these real life figures of black history, and fleshes them out with superstar adoration. This whips matters into a frenzy right off of the bat, with iconography imagery during an actual opening credits sequence, but also in the lines of perfectly crafted dialogue, which elicit nourishing patter between sides enclosed in a conflict. It’s Aaron Sorkin levels of timing and dry delivery, which resonates accordingly with audiences in ways that characters on-screen often overlap, before giving away to a maturity in tone during the second half that suppresses its traits without completely killing them off. The shift itself feels earned with the context of unpredictable beats within the unraveling of the narrative, creating a cohesiveness for direction that pays off immensely for the thickest meat of the material.

– Transfixing cinematography. Mihai Malaimare Jr, the same man nominated for an Academy Award in 2019’s “JoJo Rabbit”, stitches a psychologically profound element of visual storytelling that refuses to rest on the laurels of timely scenery. Don’t get me wrong, those elements are in this film, conjured with a breathtaking essence that zeroes in on the isolation factor of many near-lawless towns, but Malaimare doesn’t just waste his time on those elements of production, instead matching matters with several luxurious color schemes and corresponding vantage points to make this am ambitiously decorated affair. My favorite was certainly the off-center depiction of two actors obscured slightly out of frame, yet the motion of their movements are as clear as day, as they’re being captured in the outlining shadows of their contrast. There’s plenty more examples of this style, but in summary Mihai is a valued piece in emitting a three-dimensional style to counterbalance the beats of its gripping story, making this a stimulating siesta where every sense is invited.

– Soulful score. Another element of against the grain production that serves the benefit of the film exceptionally, is the collection of R&B and hip hop numbers that not only channel an endearing sense of cultural heritage within the story’s setting, but also play further into the element of aforementioned tonal capacities that never sacrifice fun for ferocity. It helps that each of the selections aren’t anything contemporarily current, but rather mostly Motown favorites during the golden age of soul. If not, it could create an obvious distraction to scenes of importance that we’re asked to focus on, but thankfully the barrage of group crooning and deep south flavor earns a rich sense of authenticity within its environmental captivity on-screen, all the while off-screen infecting audiences with toe-tapping energy that incites an irresistible delight to the movie’s indulging personality.

– Commendable extra. Did you catch the honorable tribute during the first act, pertaining to the name of a certain deceased actor of black culture who I could easily see cast in such a convention-breaking project. I won’t spoil anything, as I feel it will bring a huge smile to your face when you see it in bold lettering, but it deserves mention because Samuel himself was a longtime friend of the actor, going back as far as his work in the music department on one of the actor’s biggest films. It’s a sentimental touch to a film involving no shortage of stomach-turning brutality, and hints to something bigger in life that transcends the hallowed walls of fantasy while inside of a film.

NEGATIVES

– Unnecessary twist. While the film is laced with as many satisfactory twists and sharp turns as a theme park rollercoaster, there’s one instance during the closing moments where such a deviation felt far too familiar to feel compelling in this stature. Not only is the twist not needed for the magnitude of the feud at the forefront of the narrative that has already reached simmering levels before its enthralling climax, but it also resonates at a time when it’s nothing more than an afterthought when constructed with eight minutes left in the film. For my money, if you felt the need to go this tired, watered down route, you should’ve done it halfway through the film, when the stakes and circumstances had enough time to be reevaluated with the many dynamics they affect along the way. Failing to do so adds one too many twists to the variety of their allowance, and undersells what could arguably be the biggest one at a time when matters should be wrapping up on-screen.

– Strained second. As previously alluded to, I found the run time to be fully justified, but it’s not without problematic instances in the overall pacing, particularly during the middle third of the presentation. It’s here where we learn that the film can not only not keep up with the rampant intensity that invited us in during the film’s rattling introduction, but also that certain scenes during this act drown on a bit longer than needed, considering the amount of exposition pertaining to such a necessity. There was never a moment when I was bored or where the straining led to trying circumstance on my interpretation, but there’s certainly matters with the editing that I feel could’ve used a second cut, especially considering so much of this act feels dramatically inferior to the bookends of its ensuing narrative.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+