Rent Meek's Cutoff (2010)

Going Nowhere - Meek's Cutoff review by Count Otto Black

This well-made, well-acted, extremely atmospheric film has one slight flaw. Nothing happens. Literally nothing. Well, not quite nothing. There's some squabbling, a punch or two is thrown, and at one point it even looks as if somebody might actually be shot! But of course they aren't. And everyone talks quite a bit, when they're not too weakened by thirst, hunger and exhaustion to feel like saying anything. The movie is summed up by a scene in which the travelers stumble across a vein of gold so rich there are nuggets strewn all over the ground. They gaze at this vast wealth with dull apathy and, because by this point water is all they care about, they can't even be bothered to pick it up. The viewer may by this stage in the movie be experiencing similar emotions.

You might expect a film like this to begin with the brave, determined settlers starting out on their journey full of optimism, and gradually becoming disillusioned as the going gets tougher. You know, like every other wagon-train western ever. Not this one. Meek, the stereotypical grizzled old guide, has led them a long way down what he claims is a secret shortcut only he knows about before the film even starts, so by the time we meet them they're already getting tired, irritable and hard to like, and they already don't trust Meek, who consequently has so little to do that he might as well not be in the movie.

An Indian is captured. They're beastly to him because they fear an Indian attack, but of course no other Indians show up, and the one they've caught spends a lot of time tied up saying nothing because he doesn't speak English. One of the girls is vaguely attracted to him. Is there an interracial romance? Nope. That would be too much like something happening. Then they decide, very reluctantly, to trust him because it's their only chance of survival. Does the action now commence? Go on, have a guess...

I gave this movie two stars because it's trying very hard. Unfortunately it's trying to do precisely the wrong thing. "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford" also gives us a realistic Wild West with long stretches of nothing much happening, gunfights that are chaotic, panicky affairs or cowardly backshootings, and brutal, treacherous "heroes". But it's an enthralling and at times oddly beautiful film about complex, deeply flawed characters we care about even if we don't like them. This movie is just a bunch of tired, thirsty people getting ratty with each other in the middle of a drab, ugly desert in a story-arc that's had huge sections amputated from both ends so it's all middle with no setup or climax. Worthy, but oh so very, very dull.

Road movie before the roads were built - Meek's Cutoff review by CM

Based on historical events (more closely than many films), this story of US pioneers in the first half of the 19th century guided by a leader initially too confident of his own knowledge & abilities is beautiful & gripping. As with many 'based on a true story', it was worth looking up the persons & events depicted. Character-driven, with the scenery of the Oregon Trail always a harsh background that threatens to take the pioneers' bones to itself. Excellent actors; another winner from Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Certain Women).