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MEEK'S CUTOFF (2011) (***1/2)

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When your hear wagon train probably dozens of images from countless Westerns come to mind. You hear the call, "Circle the wagons! Indian attack!" The legend has been well established. Kelly Reichardt's quiet rumination of the travels of pioneers tries to break down that legend and present something closer to the real experience.

In 1845, three families pay mountain man Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood, STAR TREK) to guide them along the Oregon Trail through the Cascade Mountains. As the film begins, we quickly realize they are lost. Meek has talked big about his exploits, but it seems like he is driving these people forward with the hope that the way will be found as the go along.

Reichardt tells this true-life tale from the perspective of the women, particularly Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN). She is not afraid to matter-of-factly tell Mr. Meek that he has gotten them hopelessly loss. He tries to explain to her that women are agents of chaos and men destruction. She looks at him like he's full of it. The other women include the pregnant Glory White (Shirley Henderson, HARRY POTTER) and the skittish and superstitious Millie Gately (Zoe Kazan, ME AND ORSON WELLES).

The men are good folk, but ill prepared for what they have gotten themselves into. Emily's husband Solomon (Will Patton, ARMAGEDDON) tries to placate her when she complains about Meek. What other option does he have? He trusted a man that should not have been trusted. Millie's husband Thomas (Paul Dano, THERE WILL BE BLOOD) is young and eager and naïve. Glory's husband William (Neal Huff, MICHAEL CLAYTON) fights illness the whole way. Their son Jimmy (Tommy Nelson, THE GOOD SHEPHERD) idolizes Meek as a true man's man.

This is a film about tone and simply watching people handle a journey. Reihardt often watches at a distance, which reminds us how small these people are compared to the vast wilderness they are traveling through. For the women, they are even more distanced from events. One such powerful moment, they try to listen in has Meek and the men argue about their course. We don't need to hear the details to know what is being said and the effect of the woman being left out carries a disquieting quality.

At one point they spot an Indian (Rod Rondeaux, 3:10 TO YUMA) watching them. The women are frightened; they must have been reading the legends. The men capture him. Meek wants to shoot him on the spot. Emily has different ideas. Now personality conflict comes into play. But Reichardt doesn't amp up the melodrama. She stays on course the whole way.

There are no Indian attacks or stampedes in this tale. Those are probably the least likely problems they would have faced. They have to contend with heat, disease, water shortages, broken down wagons, accidents and sheer boredom. These problems don't make for high drama, but they burrow into us because we see just how difficult the journeys of these pioneers were when the simple becomes complex.

Rick DeMott's picture

Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks