Review: Hostiles

Image courtesy of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures.

Scott Cooper's latest film, "Hostiles," is another in a long line of movies about hardened men searching for their souls and his best since 2009's "Crazy Heart." From its opening scene - in which a family is attacked by Comanche warriors, who kill the entire clan, with the exception of the matriarch, Rosalie Quaid (Rosamund Pike), who manages to escape - to its flawed lead character, Capt. Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), who hates Native Americans, Cooper's film bears some similar notes to John Ford's iconic "The Searchers."

If you're going to borrow from a western, it's a good idea to do so from the best. But while the first half of "Hostiles" feels like any number of westerns you might have seen before - a group of men must lead another group of people through hostile territory - the picture eventually evolves into something else entirely that is suspenseful, often visually gorgeous, thoughtful and - to some extent - timely.

Blocker is ordered - much to his chagrin - to lead Chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family safely back to his native land in Montana. Yellow Hawk, whom we are told was fairly vicious in his heyday, is now a sick old man. After being imprisoned for seven years, the United States government has worked out a deal to set him free and return him to the home that was taken away from him. But Blocker - whose own vicious streak from the past is mentioned more than once - could care less about the chief's fate and, if you ask his opinion, the old man should rot in jail.

Blocker's team of men is a who's who of great supporting actors - Timothee Chalamet, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons and Jonathan Majors - and the group eventually runs across Rosalie, who has returned to her burned home, where her husband has been scalped and children lie dead under some blankets. She is clearly in shock and alone in the wilderness, so Blocker brings her along for the ride. At first, she is angered by the presence of Yellow Hawk and his family, but eventually begins to warm to the chief's daughter (Q'orianka Kilcher) and that woman's son (Xavier Horsechief).

Stopping off at an isolated post, Blocker is then tasked with taking along a convict (Ben Foster), who had once served with Blocker and Cochrane's Metz, and knows where all the bodies are buried, so to speak. But at this point in the journey, it is Foster's character who is the savage, while Blocker and his crew have become more enlightened and depend on Yellow Hawk as much as the chief relies on him.

"Hostiles" is a movie about forgiveness and reckoning with one's own prejudices, but much like "The Searchers," this is thankfully handled with a fair amount of subtlety. Cooper makes great use of the gorgeous vistas and the pained looks of his characters with that scenery as a backdrop. Bale gives a strong performance here, while all of the other actors - especially Cochrane and Studi - provide excellent supporting work.

Cooper's films are about men who wrestle with demons - Jeff Bridges' struggle with alcoholism in "Crazy Heart," economic plight and familial bonds in "Out of the Furnace" and, well, being a cold blooded murderer and trying not to get caught for it in "Black Mass." Blocker joins that company as a man whose anger and hatred had consumed him, only to find that second chances are still possible. It's an engrossing western drama that sneaks up on you and feels like the type of film that - pardon the cliched expression - they rarely make anymore.