The Homesman (2014)

This story of an 1850s spinster transporting three insane women across the harsh prairie pulled us in with its powerful story, good acting, magnificent images of bleak landscapes, and beautiful music. Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones are wonderful as the woman and the drifter she hires to help on the journey across the plain states. Swank was last blogged in Amelia and Jones, most recently in The Family, not only stars, he directs to a script he co-wrote with Kieran Fitzgerald (in his fiction feature debut) and Wesley A. Oliver (in his writing debut after working as Jones' assistant on four movies), based on the 1988 novel by Glendon Swarthout, which had previously been optioned by Paul Newman. Interestingly, this author's works also include The Shootist (1975 novel and 1976 movie) and Where the Boys Are (1960 novel and movie). All is not dust and gloom in this picture--we laughed more than we expected for something that is certainly not a comedy.

The mad housewives of Nebraska are portrayed by the talents of Grace Gummer (last in Frances Ha), Miranda Otto (played the ex-wife in War of the Worlds (2005), but best known to me for TV: mini-series The Starter Wife (2007), guilty pleasure The Cashmere Mafia (2008), and another ex-wife in the highly entertaining Rake earlier this year), and Danish actress Sonja Richter.

Big star power is in the supporting cast with large credits for few scenes each, including John Lithgow (most recently in Love Is Strange), Meryl Streep (Gummer's mom, she was last blogged in August: Osage County), James Spader (best known for his TV work on 22 episodes of The Practice (2003-04), 101 of Boston Legal (2004-08), and 25 of The Office from 2011-12--I haven't seen The Blacklist--but who can forget his sexy movie work in Pretty in Pink (1986), Less Than Zero (1987), Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), White Palace (1990), Bad Influence (1990), Crash (1996), Two Days in the Valley (1996), and Secretary (2002), before his decidedly unsexy role in Lincoln alongside Mr. Jones), Hailee Steinfeld (most recently in Begin Again), Tim Blake Nelson (a guy with a lot of teeth who was in, among others, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Big Year, and Lincoln, among many), and Barry Corbin (Jack whispered, "He was the astronaut in Northern Exposure!" 110 episodes from 1990-95. I also remember from among Corbin's 192 credits, beginning with Urban Cowboy (1980), War Games (1983), Nothing in Common (1986), The Hot Spot (1990), two with Jones in 2007: No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah, and three episodes of Modern Family as Cameron's father). Really, all but Lithgow's are just cameos.

Here's my James Spader anecdote: In the mid-1990s I was walking on Mulholland Drive (as I did thrice weekly for fifteen years), near my Laurel Canyon house, and passed Spader going the other way, also on foot, with Christian Clemonson, who played his brother in Bad Influence (1990). I think they had a baby with them. In my usual starstruck awkwardness, I exclaimed, "So you really are brothers!" They ignored me and later Clemenson was in half of the episodes of Boston Legal.

Jones was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes for this and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), the only two features he has directed. Do be forewarned, there are a handful of scenes out of sequence, and one left me puzzled for several minutes. Two more warnings: this is not for kids and there's the possibility of learning a pretty big spoiler if you're not careful.

I expect recognition for many of the filmmakers, including cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (last shot Argo) and composer Marco Beltrami (scored Snowpiercer). You can stream four cuts of this soundtrack on Beltrami's website.

The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer is at a solid 80% for critics but only 53% for the philistines in the audience (for a discussion of philistines, watch this clip from The Squid and the Whale (2005), especially beginning at 1:10). Don't be a philistine. See this one on the big screen before the Oscars and before somebody gives away the twist.