Premise: In 1925 Montana, a cowboy doesn’t care for his new sister-in-law and nephew(-in-law?).
Time to show how the sausage is made a little. I somehow forgot to write a Reaction on this when I first saw it. Things got out of order in my Word doc and several weeks passed without me writing anything on it. That turned out to be a good thing though. I didn’t pay full attention to the movie when I watched it and came away pretty tepid on it. It wasn’t until a friend texted me about it and commented on the ending that I 1) realized I forgot to write a Reaction and 2) was missing something.
So, I decided to watch it again. I’m glad I did. I picked up on a lot more and, knowing where the movie was headed, I appreciated a lot more of the performances. When I first watched it, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what Phil’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) deal was. Was he being a dick to his brother’s (Jesse Plemons) new wife (Kirsten Dunst) because he secretly liked her? Or is he just a jerk? And what’s with his change in the attention he paid to his new nephew (Kodi Smit-McPhee)? I jumped around a bunch of different ideas from thinking this would be a love triangle to being a Brokeback Mountain. That distracted me from how subtle a lot of the performances were and how deliciously mean the ending is.
[Standard Disclaimer: While this movie is adapted from a novel, since Jane Campion wrote the screenplay and directed the film, I’ll be attributing authorial credit to her. I don’t know which story choices came from the novel or her, so I’m looking at her decision to include any part of the novel in the film as a choice she made. It’s not wholly accurate, but it’s easier than reading the book too. Sorry.]
It’s all there from the very beginning. We know early on that Smit-McPhee is determined to protect his mother. There’s no kindness in how Cumberbatch is treating Dunst. And, Smit-McPhee plays Cumberbatch masterfully. I enjoy how the film uses knowledge of other indie films to distract the audience from what’s really happening. I really thought this was turning into a Brokeback Mountain or Call Me By Your Name in which an unlikely bond between two men exposed something buried inside them. I spent so much time looking for that in the performances. Upon rewatch, I really love how both Cumberbatch and Smit-McPhee play it. Cumberbatch is a lot of bravado masking fear. He’s too much of an asshole to even be outright sympathetic, but you can at least understand how he became what he is. Meanwhile, Smit-McPhee is gangly and awkward and uses it to mask what’s he’s really up to. It’s a great misdirect. He rope-a-dopes him, taking Cumberbatch’s abuse to earn his trust.
I’m not as crazy about Kirsten Dunst’s performance. Perhaps it’s just because I feel so bad for her. She really does play her anxiety and eventually alcoholism well. It’s a more traditionally showy performance and she’s a bit too much of a plot function. Look, I’m in the “Kirsten Dunst needs an Oscar nomination if not win” camp, so if this is what gets her there, I’ll take it.
A pair of really great performances and an excellent ending. It is a little slow, but any patience is rewarded. This movie really grew on me.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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