Ride with the Devil
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Movie Reviews of Ride with the Devil
Movie Review: Authentic Civil War Picture of War In MIssouri & War Against Civilians
Summary: 5 Stars
Fast paced, authentic look and feel of Civil War in Missouri, which is more a war against civilians as the union army comes to southern Missouri with civilians caught in the cross fire of a war without rules or restraint. Suspected southern and union sympathizing neighbors become suspicious of each other suffering the brutality of war setting the tone for a virtual "no quarter war". Without a standing army or at least without a true military organization, the confederates fight a guerilla war and look like the bushwhackers they call themselves. The dandified and the regular farmers all fight together. Toby McGuire, referred to as "Duchy" due to his German family roots, fights for the south along with his best friend Jack Bull, played well by Skeet Ulrich ('As Good as it gets') after Bull's father is murdered by Union regulators. They ride with a guerilla troop led by Black John that eventually culminates in a grand epic like revenge attack on Lawrence, Kansas with Quantrill. There is no mercy again for soldiers or civilians. The scene and the conflict reminds one of the village scene in 'Platoon" where blatant brutality comes in conflict with McQuire who takes action and in turn is suspected as a union sympathizer by the worst of the guerillas. The film's realism in clothing, weapons, horses, language and speech of the day is fitting throughout with an air for realism that is not at all strained. The realism of the picture is particularly vivid when the Union cavalry in pursuit is shown not marching in twos but in mass across the fields unlike the movies where they would be more strung out and vulnerable. In their semi-military defense, the southerners exhibit a lack of weaponry as they fire mostly revolvers and carbines are not exhibited. Maguire is first rate with subdued fury against his enemy while in conflict with the raw brutality exhibited by many of his peers. Although well suited for his friends Bull, George and a semi-free slave named Holt, Maguire faces another enemy within his own ranks, a cold hearted killer named Pitt Mackeson. Mackeson is an eerie and killing loving individual who holds a serious grudge against Maguire that erupts in the most inappropriate time. The Mackeson character is played very well by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in total contrast to his character as a likable coach in "Bend it Like Beckam". In the midst of the war scenes is the singer Jewell who plays a beautiful down home and unlucky at love mixed with war girl who falls for McGuire's friend and through the accidents of war becomes McGuire's dependent. In the midst of the slower parts of the film reflecting the intervals of war lays a relationship built upon naivety of McQuire and trust between him and Jewell. It actually works and the film captures the relationship within the period of those times with a humorous outcome involving a shotgun of sorts complete with an unusual wedding night. The movie is adept about social issues and conflicts among people that may believe differently but are killed sometimes due to pure circumstance. One very hard scene is the rounding up and killing of free blacks while the slave Holt is riding with his master George at the Lawrence raid. Holt's loyalty is to his master George in obvious conflict with what is right and he feels it. The movie is action packed with excellent dialogue and the action never stops until the very appropriate end. A little appreciated movie that ranks as a top western/civil war film.
And the dialogue is certainly memorable:
Jack Bull: Are you saying, sir, that we fight for nothing?
Evans: Far from it, Mr. Chiles. You fight for everything that we ever had... as did my son. It's just that... we don't have it anymore
Movie Review: overlooked masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Ang Lee's RIDE WITH THE DEVIL quite simply is one of the best films of 1999, superbly crafted, sumptuously mounted, harshly realistic and brutal when it needs to be, gentle and understated when it should be. If you have any interest in the Civil War era, or merely appreciate fine historical drama and storytelling, do yourself a favor and rent (or better still, buy) this DVD. And don't watch it on pan and scan videotape crap-vision or you'll miss out on half of the gorgeous widescreen cinematography.Virtually unseen when it was unceremoniously dumped and abandoned in theaters last year, RWD represents everything that is right with the state of American filmmaking and horribly wrong with the state of American film marketing and distribution. At a time when every crass, lowbrow, insipid and moronic subject is not only filmed but heavily hyped, advertised and shoved down the throats of the pre-sold masses, I guess it is no surprise that a film this thoughtful and intelligent should be ignored. No doubt the lack of marquee star power contributed to this, but the film was never given a chance to succeed even on a limited, arthouse level. Why spend the millions necessary to produce such a fine film and then toss it in the dumpster like some unwanted bastard child?
Enter the DVD. Others on this site have quibbled over historical innacuracies, being too P.C., etc. I am not a Civil War historian and choose to approach the film as a piece of filmmaking rather than a historical artifact, and on a filmmaking level it succeeds superbly. It is one of those rare time-machine films that genuinely transports you to another era in its authenticity and detail: in dress, customs, mindset, and most importantly, language. At first, the dialog seemed a bit stiff and stilted, but after about fifteen minutes or so the rhythms and complexities of a more graceful manner of speech began to work a form of magic. It helped to illustrate both the charm and the hypocrisy of the lost antebellum world.
So many aspects of this film deserve to be praised. The acting is uniformly excellent, from the leads down to the smallest roles. Standouts were Jeffrey Wright as Holt, the freed slave fighting beside Southerners (one of the many unique and revealing historical details) and in particular Tobey Maguire as Jake. On the strength of this performance and his turn in WONDER BOYS, Maguire shows himself capable of astonishing range and rare depth, and the possibility of becoming the preeminent young American actor of his generation.
RWD follows the cardinal rule of all great drama: start with the characters. When you create three dimensional characters the audience can identify and empathize with, they will follow you wherever your story takes them. By the end of this film, I felt I had lived with these people, watched them change, grow, die. Some have complained they found the film too episodic and meandering, and it's true the storyline is unconventional, but again I find this as one of its strengths rather than a detriment. We follow these people through scenes of carnage and tenderness, sorrow and joy, and the pace reflects the unhurried rhythms of the era, taking its time to examine and reveal aspects of a way of life which would not be as deeply felt or understood without this understated approach. You want histrionics, over the top melodrama, simplistic one-dimensional cardboard characters and conventional resolutions? Don't come looking here, you will be disappointed. If however you love finely crafted, thought provoking and intelligent filmmaking, RIDE WITH THE DEVIL will satisfy the discriminating film lover.
Movie Review: Excellent on all counts....
Summary: 5 Stars
I became intrigued with this film because I heard a favorable review by a critic I respect on National Public Radio (Rita Kempley--who also writes reviews for the Washington Post). She pointed out that Ang Lee had directed the film, which immediately appealed to me because I have found his other films--"The Ice Storm and the "Remains of the Day"--especially moving and beautifully crafted. Nevertheless, I avoided the film when it played in the local theaters because Ms. Kemply also indicated it was rather bloody, and it is bloody--the Civil War was not a pretty sight. But, it probably is not nearly as bloody as "Braveheart"(which I have yet to watch) or "The Search for Private Ryan" (which left me stunned because I saw it on the big screen--but I am glad I saw it). "Ride With the Devil" probably has about the same amount of violence as "The English Patient" along with a shocking scene or two as well. I finally bought the DVD and I am glad I did.
Lee takes time to develop his four main characters: Jake Roedel (Tobey McGuire); Jack Bull (Skeet Ulrich); Sue Lee Kelly (Jewel); and Holt (Jeffrey Wright). Jake and Jack are best friends sucked into the mindlessness of the war machine(reminded me of the anecdote Shelby Foote provides in Ken Burns film "The Civil War" about the response of a Southerner to a Yankee soldier who asked the Rebel why he was fighting, "You don't own slaves, why are you here", to which the Southerner replied, "Because you're here.")
Holt is a Black man caught up in the fighting--on the Southern side, a curious fact explained by his life long friendship with another man (Blonde and White) who is fighting a war of retaliaton for wrongs committed against his family by the Yankees. All these men are "bushwackers" as they were called by the regular Union Army. Quantrell is the most famous of these "rebel outlaws" and in one scene he rides through camp with his men. Jake, Jack, and Holt join Quantrell to ride into "Kansas, bloody Kansas." Ang makes it very clear this raid resulted in one of the worst days in Kansas, and probably the dumbest raid ever staged.
The story of the lives of Jake, Jack, Holt, and Sue Lee is beautifully told. Lee's cinematography is gorgeous. In one scene, Jake steps out onto a porch on a frosty winter night and gazes up at the moon. The camera holds Jake's view of the moon in it's lens a full minute. It is a heart-rending scene--a young boy in his teens probably wondering if he will ever find peace and beauty again. But, that's Lee's specialty--heart wrenching beauty the midst of suffering.
Movie Review: Near Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie directed by Ang Lee is powerful and historic. I like almost everything about it except the guerilla who so irrationally hates the lead character apparently for no better reason than xenophobia. Our lead character is "Dutch" i.e. German, and this " bad guy" hates him for it. It's overdone and not even well-acted.
Otherwise the film is terrific drama and carefully researched history. These are no hardbitten, tough Confederate Bushwhackers. They're just a bunch of boys with southern sympathies. There's even a sense of fun in their depredations against the hated Yankees but it is, at times, desperately unfunny fun. The Yankees burn out farmsteads, murder civilians and execute rebels. The boys fight for revenge.
They invade Kansas with Bill Quantrell. In an effort of kill Jim Lane, leader of the rebel-murdering Red Legs, they attack the town of Lawrence which is his "capital." Our boys kill almost every man in town. This is the famous "Rape of Lawrence", a misnomer because not a single woman was touched...physically. Boys who haven't achieved full size; boys whose revolvers almost drag the ground, happily participate in the massacre.
The rebels--including a Yankee-killing black man fighting alongside his friend--retreat to Missouri. There is a scene in which our boys have gone to winter quarters, a cave dug into the ground--that is especially memorable. The white boys and the black fighter are there together when they are visited by a lovely young white woman who is providing them with food. The girl is brilliant. I can't catch it in writing. She glaces at the black man, "WHAT is He doing here?" She's perfect. Her words and actions are those of bygone attitudes and a bygone era.
"He's my friend...," his white friend says, "...and he stays." Later we learn that the white and black boy have been friends since childhood and the white boy, as soon as he could raise the money, purchased his friend's freedom. Later the white friend is killed in battle and, from the lips of his black friend, we learn something truly insightful--something about the power and grief that comes along with obligation and friendship. "Being that man's friend was harder than being his slave." Potent. It's not a statement about slavery but about smothering obligation.
Anyway, if you can look through its imperfections, this is a great movie. You might even learn something from it.
Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Conquest of Mexico
Movie Review: An Astounding movie wich was shamfully overlooked!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ride with the Devil is a civil war drama about the kansas/Missuori buskwackers. It is one of the few movies which takes you into its period world so effortlessly. It shows the true violence of the time and yet shows how that violence affected people and changed their lives. Ride with the Devil was directed by Ang Lee, who brought us the brilliant Sense and Sensibility, this is his best work since Sense and Sensibility. Lee knows how to make a period drama come alive to the viewer in a way that few directors can do. Maybe its because he usually does projects he really feels for. The acting in Ride with the Devil was supuerb. Tobey Maguire again proves that he is the most talented young actor in Hollywood, today. He protrays a a first generation american,Jake Rodell, with such heart and sincerity, very few actors could have done that. Skeet Ulrich delivers his best and most seriuos performance to date, as Jack Bull. Singer, Jewel, gives a suprisingly good and nuanced performance as Sue Lee Shelley. Jefferey Wright, protrays a freed black with real integrity and authority. Wright and Maguire were horrible oversights at the Oscars. Actually, i thought the whole movie was a horrible oversight. They brought a whole differnet level to this movie with their performances. they made you see their characters in a way that few could have done. You truely cared what happened to them as if they were a close freind. Wright and Maguire made you see the Civil War not as north and south but as people defending the only life they had ever known. Ride with the Devil is a captivating movie that goes right to your heart and helps you to understand a time in America's history, when nothing was simple and everything was a battle--Freedom, your way of life and survival. it puts a new persepective on a war with split our nation in two and hurt everyone it touched. this movie will probably never get a big following but for those of you reading this you will not be disapointed. so go rent this movie or be like me and buy it. thank you Ang lee and everyone how helped make this magnificent movie!