The Homesman

I watched this movie today. It was based on a novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. "The Homesman" was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival but it lost the big prize to “Winter Sleep”. Initially, Paul Newman owned the righs for a long time but he gave them up. Tommy Lee Jones undertook this project, he directed the film and he also played the role of George Briggs. Hilary Swank is the leading actress of the movie. She played a strict and manly woman with a good heart.

I watched this movie because of the two leading actors. Tommy Lee Jones is always good and Hilary Swank deserved her two Oscars so far ("Boys Don't Cry" & "Million Dollar Baby")! So, I was sure that the movie would have a decent result. Tommy Lee Jones has also directed the recognisable “The Three Burial of Melquiades Estrada" which won two awards ("Best Actor" & "Best Screenplay") in Cannes Film Festival nine years ago! I haven't watched that movie yet but I have read many good reviews about this film. It's very popular in my country too (especially in Communist youth festivals :P). His new film "The Homesman" is also a Western. The screeplay is quite different than the rest but it has a lot of funny things although it's a sad story. I laughed a lot with my friends and we couldn't avoid it with this context. One of the three insane women behaved like a vampire and Hilary Swank reminded me of a character of a successful Greek series (There was a desperate woman who made proposal for marriage to every man who she met in every episode). The direction was good but nothing special. I guess that evey new director could make a movie like this but Tommy had already experience. I didn't know why Greek critics praise this movie so much. The cinematography was the best part of the film because it had a lot of beautiful scenes from New Mexico (beautiful doesn't mean only flowers) and the art direction is also very good.

"The Homesman" wasn't a bad movie overall but it's not one of the best either. I watched it in an outdoor cinema with a good company, a cold beer and nice breeze. I think that this movie wouldn't be the best suggestion for young people but it could be the best for old people..:P I suppose that my parents and grandmother could love this movie based on their taste. I have watched some good films of this genre (western) in the last decade. I really enjoyed "Open Range" with Kevin Costner and "True Grit" with Jeff Bridges in the past. I really enjoyed this movie but with a totally different reason. We made fun of a lot of things about this movie and we couldn't stop laughing. I suggest this movie only in a outdoor cinema with good company (I mean, people how enjoy discussing but not loudly and not in a full cinema because it's very annoying).

Edited July 14, 201411 yr by Insomnio