Christian Bale…so moody…basically playing himself.
BQB here with a review of “Hostiles.”
I love a good Western. The general movie going public doesn’t, but I appreciate it whenever Hollywood gives me one just the same.
In 1892, Captain Joseph Blocker (Bale) is nearing retirement as one of the U.S. Army’s most notorious Native American killers. He is firm in his belief that his actions were justified, and can recite countless tales of horror perpetrated against settlers.
Meanwhile, Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) is a prisoner at the Army fort in New Mexico, where Blocker is stationed. He’s one of the West’s most notorious killers of settlers and he can recite countless tales of horror perpetrated against his people.
In short, both men feel they were justified and yet, you guessed it…road trip! (Horse trip?) The Chief, due to his old age, is granted a pardon and Blocker is ordered to escort his longtime enemy to his ancestral homeland in Montana.
The setup seems intriguing enough. Blocker and Yellow Hawk are not friends, yet they’ll need to come to an understanding because the Comanche are nearby and as Yellow Hawk warns, they don’t discriminate and will kill natives and settlers alike.
But alas, from there, the story wanders. Rosamund Pike enters the picture as a widow who lost her family to a Comanche attack. Various subplots ensue – a sergeant who has lost his faith, an African American corporal who is grateful that Blocker treats him as an equal, a prisoner who argues that Blocker is just as guilty as he is, and so on.
“Pick a plot already!” That’s what I found myself saying half-way through the film. While there is sporadic, gruesome action, there are long periods of hum drum, drawn out talking.
STATUS: Shelf-worthy, but I’d say wait to rent it. It runs at least a half-hour too long. There were various parts where I was like, “Oh here’s a good part where it could end and…oh, no…it’s still going.” No one needs to sit in a stiff movie theater seat for that.
Bookshelf Battle 