Displaying items by tag: Levon Hawke

THE THICKET

US, 2024, 105 minutes, Colour.

Peter Dinklage, Juliette Lewis, Levon Hawke, Esme Creed-Miles, Gbenga Akinnmagbe, Ned Dennehy, James Hetfield, Macon Blair, Arliss Howard, Leslie Grace.

Directed by Elliot Lester.

A Western with many familiar themes portrayed in a different way.

It is a film about bounty hunters, a very unusual duo, Peter Donklage as an accomplished bounty hunter, with a telescopic rifle, Reginald Jones, travelling with his African-American partner, Gbenga Akinnmagbe, Eustace, in an auto vehicle at first and then by horseback. They do burials, are paid, but are stood up by arrogant sheriff who mocks Reginald Jones because of his height. Jones inflicts wounds on the sheriff who then deputises a pair of brothers to pursue them.

The film opens with a family disaster, a brother and sister left without a family, the sister abducted by an outlaw, Cutthroat Bill (short for Wilhelmina), a distinctively ugly and sinister performance by Juliette Lewis. She has her tough entourage, takes the sister captive, makes comparisons about beauty and appearances with herself.

The brother is wounded, decides to go on a mission to rescue his sister, encounters Reginald Jones and Eustace, tags along with them, becomes embroiled in their struggles in pursuit, eventually catching up with his sister, all travelling towards a destination, The Thicket.

As expected, the climax builds up to a violent confrontation, the telescopic rifle doing its part, Bill and her violent death, and the surprise death of the young man but the survival of his sister.

Grim and tough but an interesting variation on Western themes.

(Movie trivia: James Hatfield is the lead singer for Metallica. Levon Hawke is the son of Ethan Hawke and Emma Thurman, brother of Maya Hawke. Esme Creed-Mills is the daughter of Samantha Morton and Charlie Creed-Mills.)

1. The title, the sketches during credits, the destination for the travellers, the final visuals and the action in the thicket?
2. A variation on Western themes, bounty hunters, gunslingers (and cutthroats), African-Americans in the West, Native Americans, families and settlers, traders? And the musical score?
3. The opening, the need for clarity about what was going on, the young man and his sister, the parents dying of smallpox, the grandfather, the rider on the motorbike, the confusion, the funeral, the attack, the taking of the girl, confrontation at the ferry, the death of the grandfather, Jack and his quest for his sister?
4. The introduction to Cutthroat Bill, Juliette Lewis’s performance, her appearance, constant references to beauty, the ugliness and scars? Ruthless? Some background? Her entourage and her tough dealings with them, their personalities, beholden to her? The attack, her taking the girl, not killing her, keeping her captive, taking her dress and burning it, her henchmen’s singlet? The young girl, her age, the terror, her determination?
5. The funeral, Reginald Jones with Eustace, the burial, the bounty hunters, the confrontation with the sheriff, his taunting Jones because of his height, Jones demanding the right money, the mockery, the fight, the owner being wounded? His deputising the brothers, their pursuit of Jones and Eustace?
6. The encounter with Jack, tensions, his search for his sister, his age, inexperience, the guns? Travelling with Jones and Eustace, their vehicle, and the horses, and in the desert, the two deputised brothers and their pursuit? The fight, one brother dead? The other hiding?
7. Jack, following on, in the town, look of his sister, the saloon, the brothel, Jimmy Sue, the owner, the taunts, Jack going with her to the room, his wanting to save her, the confrontation with the owner? Jimmy Sue and joining in the search for the sister?
8. Bill, her continuing on, going to the thicket, the trading post, the shop, her encounters with Jones? His speaking loudly, helping the sister know that Jack was searching?
9. The continued travel, Bill’s men and their attack on the girl, Bill’s treatment of them? The old man, his warning to the girl?
10. The continued pursuit, Jones and Eustace and their decisions, Jack promising the property in Montana, Jones taking a stand and then relenting?
11. The buildup to the final confrontation, the girl taking an initiative, the treatment by Bill, Jones and Bill, Jones and his telescopic rifle, killing Bill? The irony of the shootout, Jack and his search, his death? Jimmy Sue surviving?
12. A variation on grim Western stories, bounty hunters, racial differences, sexual brutality, gun violence?