Flecked with the bold sensibilities of hip-hop, struggle, and swagger, in a way, it’s a bit remarkable that no one, until now, has really tried to wed the parallel ideas of street hustle and grind to the hardscrabble, life-is-cheap ways of the Wild Wild West and yet without making a big thing about it. Because in the stylish, rhythmic, epic big-budget Western “The Harder They Fall,” directed by Jeymes Samuel and produced by Jay-Z (whose refined and unflappably trendsetting music sensibilities seem to saturate the film), everybody is trying to get theirs.
Everyone is desperate for something, whether it’s money, status, power, or some combined jawn that feels modern and relevant (which makes them all tremendously fallible and human). The hero outlaw, Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), wants revenge, Sherriff Bass Reeves (Delroy Lindo) wants justice, James Beckwourth (RJ Cyler) wants the title of the fastest draw in the West, the cruel outlaw, Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), is trying to hold on to a tenuous power, and Treacherous Trudy (Regina King), seemingly just wants to burn it all down.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves in this thematic, scriptural “he who is without sin, cast the first stone” story. “The Harder They Fall” begins with a heinous and unforgivable act of vengeance in a prologue. An unseen Rufus Buck (Elba) slaughters a family. It’s unspeakable, but it’s also orchestrated in the vein of Quentin Tarantino: hyper-violent, kinetically crafted, and not really meant to elicit deep-seated howling emotional pains; rather electrically charge an audience for a revenge odyssey that’s about to commence.
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Cut to present-day, and the “angel of death” anti-hero Nat Love (Majors) is running down a list of those who did him wrong and gunning them down in vengeful cold blood. With Rufus Buck behind bars for life, his mission is seemingly over, so he’s free to reengage his former flame, the reputable musician and hotel entrepreneur Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz). However, that’s more complicated than it seems (if the character names sound familiar, they’re all based on real Black frontiers people reimagined in this story).
While the Love Gang—Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi), Jim Beckwourth (Cyler), among them—steal from outlaws and bank robbers in some quasi kind of Robin Hood act, Love’s plan to wind down are interrupted when he finds out (through bandits they looted) that Buck is getting a pardon and being released from jail. This news compels the murderous Buck gang, including Cherokee Bill (Lakeith Stanfield) and Trudy Smith, aka Treacherous Trudy (King), to go on a blood-spattered mission to free their former boss, even though they have papers for his peaceful emancipation.
But a walking, talking-free Rufus Buck is something Nat Love cannot abide by. Soon, a big showdown arises on the horizon, but it’s filled with twists, turns, and complications of love, money, and an even deeper and longsuffering act of the big payback.
All in all, “The Harder They Fall” is archetypal and familiar Western. And early on, for at least the first act, if not more, it appears as if it’ll be nothing more than a post-modernly cool, hip, and violent cowboy movie that’s more inclusive, has better representation, and shows a (slightly) different perspective on frontier life. And its cinematic panache and fashionable soundtrack—dub, reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, much of it remixed by Samuel—threatens to overpower the movie too with a deep sense of style over substance.
But at 130 minutes, “The Harder They Fall” has time to set the chic stage, but also grown and evolve, eventually making space for a moving and emotional story about the legacy of violence and the passed-down history of family sins and trauma. It does take a minute to unfurl, for sure, but when the full scope of Samuel’s impressive vision becomes clear, ‘Harder They Fall’ thankfully has something more to say than just present bad-ass shootouts by charismatic characters.
That said, had ‘Harder They Fall’ been empty-headed, it still might have been extremely watchable thanks to its captivating, ultra-suave cast. Majors just oozes persuasive charisma, a born-to-be leading man if there ever was one, Zazie Beetz’s magnetic presence is much the same, Stanfield’s oddball charms always make for a terrific scene-stealer, and Idris Elba just cannot help but make a scene that feels perfectly solid to seethe with a more biblically furious righteousness, a la Samuel L. Jackson just knocking fierce Tarantino monologues out of the park. And yet still, we haven’t even discussed Regina King’s ferocity and malevolence that somehow makes everyone else’s appeals and rage feel like child’s play. She’s an absolute stand-out with her patois-splashed accent, convincingly expressing frosty and collected wickedness that feels downright chilling in its capacity for malice.
Suppose the script, co-written by Samuel and Boaz Yakin, occasionally falters in its conventions, and the stylishness overwhelms. In that case, the compelling shading of these acting textures actually makes “The Harder They Fall” much more potent and emotionally visceral. When Elba’s character’s entire story is revealed, it hits like a ton of emotionally bruising bricks, a testament to his performance, but also the patient, slow-burn coiling of the real story. King’s backstory of suffering is teased, but it’s also implicit in her menacing performance: no one is this evil for no reason (and not for nothing, the movie teases potentially more story for her).
Helmed by multi-hyphenate writer/director/musician Jeymes Samuel, also known as the musician The Bullitts, the big-budget Western epic is incredibly assured and confident for a feature-length filmmaking debut. But he made his first film reel at the age of eight, has already directed the Western short “They Die by Dawn” and the long-form music video/short film “Jay-Z: Legacy.” And suppose you look at the casts of these two star-filled shorts alone (Susan Sarandon, Ron Perlman, Michael Kenneth Williams, Rosario Dawson, Giancarlo Esposito, etc.). In that case, it’s pretty clear these people were impressed enough either with his film reels, music videos, or clarity of vision.
And that’s maybe the most significant takeaway here (aside from an excellent cast that is great in everything they do): Samuel is the real deal, and perhaps the music career should take a backseat because the possibilities of what’s next and how good they could be, seem endless. To that end, Samuel’s film ($90 million price tag) has excellent collaborators and looks like a billion bucks. Shot by both Sean Bobbitt and Mihai Mălaimare Jr., ‘Harder They Fall’ is handsomely crafted af, the costumes and production design are spectacular (the way Samuel and the DPs give sly, cinematic nods to old Western visual tropes, the odd abrupt zoom here and there, is pretty enjoyable). Also scored by Samuel, the approach feels spiritually aligned with the Jay-Z musical collaboration the filmmaker did on “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack —curating, blending, remixing, and recontextualizing new and old school sounds into a new pastiche. Dub melds into hip hop, dancehall flows with rap beats, and quite movingly, it all seems to intertwine beautifully with more of a traditional, soaring Spaghetti Western-like score in the film’s grander, more affecting, and better second half.
Ultimately, “The Harder They Fall” is nostalgic for old Westerns and simultaneously classical, recognizable, and slightly reimagined in its vibe and representation. It doesn’t reinvent the Western at all, but it manages to skillfully negotiate the conflict of escapism vs. depth and having something to say. What it may have to say about human nature, the ambiguity in our moralities may not be new, but it is classical in the best sense. When it rides off into the sunset, what you’re left with is a diverse, reimagined fable of iniquity, holy retribution, and comeuppance that is as entertaining as it is surprisingly soulful. [B]
“The Harder They Fall” is scheduled for a limited theatrical release on October 22, before streaming on Netflix on November 3.
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