Review: Bone Tomahawk

Kurt Russell stars as a typical small town western sheriff who leads a small posse on a mission to track down a supernatural breed of Indian savages and rescue town doctor (Lili Simmons) and the sheriff’s deputy (Evan Jonigkeit) from god knows what fate. The rest of the posse comprises of the doctor’s injured husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson), slick Injun-killer Brooder (Matthew Fox) who enjoys killing Indians as much as he enjoys pissing Arthur of, and aging back-up deputy Chicory (a white-bearded, wheezy Richard Jenkins). The journey is arduous, especially for the injured Arthur but that’s nothing compared to what they find when they eventually happen upon enemy territory. David Arquette plays a cowardly man whom the sheriff throws in jail only to find him missing along with the doctor and deputy. Sid Haig appears briefly as Arquette’s scummy companion, whilst Sean Young (as the mayor’s wife), Jamison Newlander (as the mayor), Michael Paré (in a useless walk-on), and a fleetingly glanced James Tolkan play the various townsfolk. Kathryn Morris gets little to do as the sheriff’s wife.

Man I was looking forward to this one, and man did I ever come away disappointed with this supernaturally-tinged 2016 western from debut writer-director S. Craig Zahler (who has gone on to write “Puppetmaster: The Littlest Reich”, which sounds craptacular). I wanted to love it so much, but it’s like 95% western, 5% horror, and about 50-55% entertainment. It’s basically a gory version of “The Searchers” (one of John Wayne’s better films), with Kurt Russell well-cast in the John Wayne role. Russell basically played Wayne elsewhere in “Big Trouble in Little China” and “The Hateful Eight”, so it’s a comfortable fit for him. The film has a slow pace and the central menacing threat is barely existent on screen until the finale. Those are two pretty big flaws that the film never really manages to overcome, and I was expecting something trashier and more lively than what I got. That’s a shame, because there’s still some good stuff here and a filmmaker like Robert Rodriguez or Walter Hill might’ve been able to have made a better fist of it. A lot of it is interesting, it just takes forever to get there, to the point where the finale has to rush things and the good/evil emphasis feels way out of whack.

Things start well with David Arquette and Sid Haig slitting a man’s throat, so it’s a shame their participation in the film is minor. However, it takes a good goddamn while to introduce all of the main players, too long in my opinion. At least two early scenes with Patrick Wilson could’ve been trimmed down considerably for a start. Speaking of the actor, it also doesn’t help that Patrick Wilson (well-cast or not) is beige wallpaper and we get a truly hideous cameo by an unrecognisable Sean Young that really ought to have remained on the cutting room floor. On the plus side, Kurt Russell is a sturdy anchor, and Matthew Fox steals the whole damn thing as a slick prick gunslinger. The guy has always had talent, as anyone who watched “Party of Five” and “Lost” can attest, and he really does play the part of a flashy jerk very well. He’s got kind of a Richard Boone meets Dean Martin vibe about him here playing easily the most interesting and layered character. It’s a keen eye that can spot a very different looking and sounding Richard Jenkins, giving some weary dignity to the old ‘Gabby’ Hayes part, basically. I’m not sure they’re exactly worth the wait, but the ‘troglodytes’ are incredibly imposing so it’s a shame you have to wait so long for them. I just wish that this 2 hour flick were cut down to about 90 minutes, a lot more of which should’ve been devoted to the cannibal troglodytes.

Poor pacing and overlength pull down what could’ve been a pretty interesting brutal, supernatural western. Too little emphasis on the supernatural elements also does not help. Several good performances though, and it looks sensational. A major letdown overall, I can’t quite see the hype from those who have seen it, but I can definitely see why it’s not been as widely seen as the cast would normally dictate. This isn’t the cult classic you’ve heard it to be, I’m afraid.

Rating: C+