Review: Hostiles

 Set in the 1890s, Christian Bale stars as a veteran Army captain with a sour disposition towards Native-Americans, who is assigned the task of leading a party escorting a Cheyenne Indian chief (Wes Studi) back home to live out his remaining time, stricken with cancer. Bale is initially strongly opposed to the mission, as the chief was imprisoned for killing many whites, with several of Bale’s friends and officers among the dead. However, his superior officers (Stephen Lang and Bill Camp) are adamant that it is his duty to do so. Along the way, Bale’s party (Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, and Timothee Chalamet among them) pick up a disturbed widow (Rosamund Pike) whose family fell victim to Comanche savages. Ben Foster plays a shackled former comrade of Bale’s, a constant reminder that Bale used to be every bit as blood-thirsty as the Native American chief he loathes to be escorting. However, he now sees something different in him…a softness perhaps. Peter Mullan is a Lt. Colonel friendly acquaintance of Bale’s whose liberal-thinking wife chooses the wrong subject matter to discuss at the dinner table in Bale’s presence.

 

Written and directed by Scott Cooper (the overrated “Crazy Heart”, the somewhat uneven “Out of the Furnace”) from a story by Donald Stewart (“Missing”, “The Hunt for Red October”), this tense, dark 2018 western is like “The Searchers” done in revisionist fashion. Personally I didn’t think “The Searchers” was the polar opposite of revisionist (I’m pretty sure it was made knowing that the John Wayne character was a dying breed), but nonetheless this film goes much further in a revisionist direction. The characters played by Rory Cochrane and Peter Mullan in particular are in the revisionist western mould. Or better yet, it feels completely honest in its portrayal of both white men and Native Americans as being equally capable of violence and savagery. It’s not a particularly pleasant experience – there’s a scalping and several children dead in the opening scene – but it’s a worthwhile one, with what I consider to be one of Christian Bale’s best performances to date.

 

A little bit stoic Eastwood, a little bit gruff Sam Elliott, and quite a bit of embittered and ruthless John Wayne in “The Searchers”, Bale nonetheless adds his own dour, but interesting flavour to the mix without getting so method-y that he disappears up his own clacker. Long-serving Native American character actor Wes Studi is sadly used mostly for symbolic purposes here, and I think it slightly sells the message/intent short. Studi’s not someone who needs a lot of dialogue to convey things, but nonetheless I don’t think this will go down as one of his best roles, and I wished his character were afforded a fair bit more nuance or depth. Thankfully, there are rock-solid supporting turns by Rory Cochrane (never better), Rosamund Pike (also never better), and more briefly Stephen Lang, Bill Camp, Peter Mullan, and the always excellent Ben Foster. Pike is particularly impressive given her rather damaged character could’ve lent itself to histrionics. She keeps things in check nicely in easily her best performance to date (She was the weak link in the otherwise brilliant “Gone Girl”).

 

Cooper builds up a heck of a lot of tension here – You’ve got violent Native American-hating Bale transporting a Native American, then his posse picks up widowed Rosamund Pike whose family were killed by Comanche. And then Ben Foster (perfectly cast) shows up promising to do Ben Foster things. Knife-edge stuff, it’s brooding and dark without becoming stodgy or dull thanks to those tense character dynamics. Some might find it a bit corny, but I think the film touches on something very interesting and true – that often in violent battles, both sides lose themselves in conflicts that often don’t seem to have much purpose or overall gain to be had. It’s just a lot of death. Case in point? A cameo by the late, great Scott Wilson as a landowner who doesn’t want no injun on his property. A shootout inevitably ensues because people are just violent dumbfucks sometimes.

 

A strong western with a lot of building tension and fine performances, led by one of Christian Bale’s best. It’s nothing earth-shatteringly new but very solidly done on all accounts in a genre we don’t see on screen often enough these days for my liking. I was pleasantly surprised by this rather unpleasant film, it’s Scott’s best film to date for sure. Next time though, give Wes Studi more to do. The guy’s terrific.

 

Rating: B-