West Texas. A boy who, after his sister is kidnapped by a violent killer known only as Cut Throat Bill, enlists a fierce bounty hunter named Reginald Jones who becomes the leader of the group of outcasts searching for the stolen girl.
Chuck says:
The very definition of a “near miss,” Elliot Lester’s “The Thicket,” flirts with greatness throughout, the western evoking the grandeur of the films of John Ford and Howard Hawks, with a liberal dose of Sam Peckinpah violence thrown in for good measure. However, this adaptation of the Joe R. Lansdale novel suffers from inconsistent pacing, a crowded cast of characters and inexplicable motivations, all of which make for a frustrating experience. The pieces of a great film are at hand, yet Lester fails to put them together properly to create a compelling narrative.
Taking place at the beginning of the 20th century in East Texas, siblings Jack and Lula (Levon Hawke and Esme Creed-Miles) have had to deal with their fair share of heartache. With their parents falling victim to a smallpox epidemic, they are under the care of their grandfather, headed to Montana, where there’s a 700-acre family ranch. Unfortunately, they stumble upon the stomping grounds of Cutthroat Bill (Juliette Lewis), a viscous sociopath who, with her gang of miscreants, do as they will, robbing, raping and killing, as the whim strikes them. This is not a fortuitous occurrence as grandpa is killed, Lula is kidnapped, and Jack is left for dead.
Meanwhile, bounty hunter Reginald Jones (Peter Dinklage) and his partner Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe) find themselves on the run, fleeing a posse put together by the mayor of a nearby town they’ve insulted. They manage to shake their pursuers and cross paths with Jack, who tells them of his plight. After much cajoling, Jones and Eustace are convinced to help the young man find his sister, the large bounty on Bill too tempting to resist.
Hardly an original premise, the story still proves initially engaging thanks to the intriguing central characters. It comes as no surprise that Dinklage serves as one of the film’s producers, shepherding this project to the screen over the course of five years. The part of Jones is tailor-made for the actor, an intelligent, resourceful man with a tattered past, driven towards redemption. Akinnagbe is equally effective, though his part is underwritten. Still, these two are so interesting, a series of adventures involving the duo would be appealing. As for Lewis, she has the mien of a sociopath but her overly raspy voice proves a distraction, as does her at-times deliberate line delivery.
Cinematographer Guillermo Garza captures the character’s ever-darkening journey into the mysterious titular locations. Brilliant images of sunlit horizons and golden-hued fields give way to gray, dank interiors and inky black forests. It’s a handsome film at every turn, bolstered by the Canadian landscape where it was filmed. At times, Lester captures the epic feel of classic westerns, the vast environment ripe with possibilities, their memory becoming more powerful as the locales they journey to become claustrophobic.
Unfortunately, the story meanders, the group making unnecessary stops along the way, superfluous characters joining them on their journey, none of them fleshed out as they should be. It quickly becomes obvious they will be nothing more than fodder for the moments of violence that become more frequent as the film progresses. Perhaps most frustrating is the lack of purpose in Bill’s actions. Little reason is given as to why she would kidnap Lula. Does she see in her the privileged woman she never had the opportunity to be? Is she the object of her desire? Is it out of spite? Some of this is suggested but never fully explored to the movie’s determent. In the end, “The Thicket” is a tangled tale in need of serious pruning.
2 1/2 Stars
