Variety
Unlike other actor-directors, Jones never seems to indulge excess on the part of his cast. Though the characters are strong, the performances are understated.
Full review
The Homesman
Tommy Lee Jones' fourth time in the director's chair, returning to the Western genre after 2005's The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Co-stars Hilary Swank, John Lithgow, William Fichtner, Hailee Steinfeld and Meryl Streep. Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2014.
"Mary Bee Cuddy (Swank), lives a solitary existence in a God-fearing mid-western town. She is designated by members of her church to take back East three women who have lost their minds. On the way from Nebraska to Iowa, where those women will at last find refuge, Mary Bee saves the life of Briggs (Lee Jones), a claim-jumper and outlaw. He agrees to help in her mission through snowstorms and perilous encounters with settlers, Indians and the harshness of the Frontier territory." (Cannes Film Festival)
2014Rating: MA15+, Strong themes and violence123 minsUSA, France
Western
- Director:
- Tommy Lee Jones ('The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada')
- Writer:
- Tommy Lee JonesKieran Fitzgerald
- Cast:
- Tommy Lee JonesHilary SwankMeryl StreepMiranda OttoSonja RichterDavid DencikJohn LithgowTim Blake NelsonJames SpaderWilliam FichtnerHailee SteinfeldGrace Gummer
The Homesman / Reviews
Total Film
On form as both director and actor, Jones crafts a mournful but moving hymn to the western. The feminist subtext, meanwhile, brings a fresh slant to the old genre.
Full reviewTime Out
It doesn't help that Swank never finds a way into this highly unappealing character, or that Jones (mostly phoning in the pitiable surliness) avoids delving very deeply into the story's proto-feminist undercurrents.
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The Telegraph
The mood flits between solemn and rascally, and the pacing is measured: this is storytelling at a mosey rather than a trot.
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The Guardian
There are some broad emotional flourishes and ripe performances - maybe bordering on the over-ripe. But it is put over with such richness and verve.
Full review
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