7 of 10
Cinematography by Frederick Elmes
Skeet Ulrich
Tobey Maguire
Jewel Kilcher
Jeffrey Wright
James Caviezel
Tom Wilkinson
"Do not think you are a good man. The thought will spoil you."
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| Ride with the Devil 7 of 10 |
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| Directed by Ang Lee Cinematography by Frederick Elmes Skeet Ulrich Tobey Maguire Jewel Kilcher Jeffrey Wright James Caviezel Tom Wilkinson |
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| Finally! An Ang Lee film without green monsters or wire-fighting Mandurins. And the result is a very fine film. Even in Lee�s far more critically acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - and his far more successfully Hulk, for that matter - you can see that what he is really interested in is his characters. This movie has wonderful character studies. I will admit, a film about the Jayhawks and Bushwackers from the Civil War is not the first place I would expect to find a character-driven drama. But it works exceptionally well. The cast is really excellent, with the exception of Jewel, who seemed a bit two-dimensional to me. Maguire, in his pre-Spidey days, show a real gift for acting, and is very likeable in the midst of a small number of likeable characters. Skeet Ulrich is also excellent, although badly in need of a haircut. The most memorable character in the film was Daniel Holt, a Negro who sided with the Southern sympathizers. He was played by Jeffrey Wright, who has won several Tony Awards prior to his work here. An outstanding effort from everyone involved. It is far from a perfect film, however. My biggest objection is that is seemed a little unbalanced, because it focuses so exclusively on one thing. We spend so much time with the Southerners that it�s difficult to get a feel for the war as a whole. Another problem is that the film�s characters and accents don�t seem to really fit with the script. It was penned by James Schamus, who works very heavily with Lee. And it feels a little bit like Schamus knew what he wanted to say, and was going to say it whether it fit with the film or not. I was also reminded of how much I enjoy Lee�s visual style, particularly his work with horses. He filmed some of the best horse chase scenes I have ever seen. All in all, a refreshingly unbiased look at a little remembered aspect of the civil war. "Do not think you are a good man. The thought will spoil you." |
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