Michelle Williams shows strength and bravery as a wagon train leader in Meek's Cutoff
Westerns are popular again thanks to the Coen Brothers remake True Grit but independent director Kelly Reichardt puts her own spin on the timeless genre via beautiful subtlety and a strong feminine hand.
For Meek's Cutoff, a rich drama about three families heading west on the Oregon Trail in 1845, Reichardt re-teams with screenwriter Jon Raymond and her Wendy and Lucy star Michelle Williams and the result is a rare Western that focuses on the women of the wagon train instead of the men.
Reichardt claims a small following thanks to the art house releases Wendy and Lucy ('08) River of Grass ('94) and Old Joy ('06). Her latest Meek's Cutoff, from Oscilloscope, will continue to wow her loyal fan base and hopefully introduce her filmmaking artistry to larger audiences. Reichardt is an American Master and while she intentionally shies away from large-scale mainstream fare she deserves a higher profile. Perhaps Meek's Cutoff will get more people talking about her incredible moviemaking.
It's 1845 and Emily and Solomon Tetherow (Williams and Will Patton), Millie and Thomas Gately (Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano) and Glory and William White (Shirley Henderson and Neal Huff) are traveling west together on the Oregon Trail. Increasingly worried about getting across the Cascade Mountains, the families hire a mountain man named Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to lead them on a shortcut across the desert. Their supplies dwindle and their mistrust of Meek grows just as they meet a lone Native American. Someone, either Meek or the Native American knows the way across the mountains and choosing correctly will determine whether these wagon train families live or die.
Veteran actor Will Patton uses all of his remarkable presence as soft- spoken leader Solomon Tetherow. Paul Dano is believably timid as a young husband unprepared for the challenges of the journey. Bruce Greenwood is equally charming and sinister as the mountain scout who may have a secret agenda.
Still, it's the women of the wagon train who truly shine in Meek's Cutoff especially Williams, who shows strength and bravery as Emily Tetherow.
Meek's Cutoff is every bit as subtle as Reichardt's earlier films but the drama sparks to life at key moments when Williams' frontier woman battles the dishonest Meek. Williams' scenes with Bruce Greenwood are electric and her performance complements her Oscar-nominated work as a young wife falling out of love in the recent drama Blue Valentine.
Cameraman Christopher Blauvelt pays homage to classic Westerns with wide-angle images of the beautiful Western landscape. The Cascade Mountains become a character as well as a source of fear among the settlers nervous about the possibility of dying on the trip.
Reichardt and production designer David Doernberg make great use of the period details. Reichardt also edits the film and keeps the storytelling at a deliberate pace.
On the surface, as the wagon train families face disaster in the high plain desert, Meek's Cutoff resembles any number of classic Westerns.
But Reichardt breathes life into the classic genre with a welcome emphasis on the women on the wagon team and how they rise to handle the challenges of their trip.
Meek's Cutoff is a welcome addition to the myth of the American wagon train as well as a boost to Kelly Reichardt's standing amongst her fellow American filmmakers. She's truly someone to celebrate.
Genre/s: Western Drama
Release Date/s: 04/08/2011 (Limited) (Showtimes & Tickets)
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Company:
Official Site: Visit the official site for Meek's Cutoff
Alternate Titles:
CAST and CREW FOR Meek's Cutoff
Starring:
Michelle Williams Emily Tetherow
Bruce Greenwood Stephen Meek
Will Patton Solomon Tetherow
Paul Dano Thomas Gately
Zoe Kazan Millie Gately
Shirley Henderson Glory White
Neal Huff William White
Rod Rondeaux The Cayuse
Tommy Nelson Jimmy White
Directed By: Kelly Reichardt
Written By: Jon Raymond
Produced By: Elizabeth Cuthrell, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani and David Urrutia
Meek's Cutoff SYNOPSIS:
PLOT: The year is 1845, the earliest days of the Oregon Trail, and a wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst and their own lack of faith in one another's instincts for survival. When a Native American wanderer crosses their path, the emigrants are torn between their trust in a guide who has proven himself unreliable and a man who has always been seen as a natural born enemy.