Hostiles

Theaters: 2 September 2017

Streaming: 18 April 2018

Runtime:  133 minutes

Genre:  Drama-Historical Fiction-Western

Els:  6.0/10

IMDB:  7.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  70/100

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  76/100

Metacritic Metascore:  65/100

Metacritic User Score:  7.2/10

Awards: 4 Wins all minor

Directed by: Scott Cooper

Music by:  Max Richter

Cast: Christian Bale – Rosamund Pike – Wes Studi

Film Locations:  Arizona – Colorado – New Mexico

Budget:  – $39 Million

Worldwide Box Office:  $35.7 Million

In the late 1800s U.S. Calvary Captain Joseph Blocker (Bale) is ordered, as a final assignment before retirement, to escort his battlefield enemy, Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hawk (Studi) from New Mexico to his home in Montana. The trip north is filled with anger and violence with reconciliation between whites and reds a distant probability.

The movie is exceptionally well acted along with gorgeous and stunning photography and as a bonus Cooper added a deft piece from matinee westerns of yore to the movie by having Ryan Bingham perform his original song “How Shall a Sparrow Fly” while also playing the part of Calvary Sergeant Paul Malloy. I haven’t witnessed a singing, acting role since John Ford’s “Rio Grande” film starring John Wayne where Ken Curtis of “Gunsmoke” fame sang with his fellow “Sons of the Pioneers“. 

The movie’s Achilles’ heel is the story, worthy of an eighth-grade film project; bland, risk-free, and unsatisfying with all plot lines stuck in neutral not able to engage either the characters or the audience.

Source: IMDB