Rust

I have written an unpublished book about the accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza on the New Mexico set of Rust. My book is about how accidents happen, not the movie. I am not a fan of Westerns nor low budget movies but I enjoyed Rust. Joel Souza surprised me with a well written movie, a depth of characters and morality that I did not expect. Wood Helm and Lucas Rust characters were well acted and Alec Baldwin never over shadowed his co-stars in a reserved portrayal of a broken man. I hope everyone pays to see Rust. Any proceeds go to Halyna Hutchins per an end of credits video. Halyna's death was a terrible accident caused by many foreseeable and unforeseeable events. Tragic if people feel it does not honor Ms. Hutchins going to see the movie.

I'm going to judge this movie based on its storytelling, acting, directing, and cinematography - not on what I think of Alec Baldwin as a person or the tragic incident onset.

Story: I think it was fine. It might not be the most compelling of story, but it was good enough for me - meaning it was engaging for the most part. There were some things that didn't make sense to me, but it's not a major gripe.

Acting: I liked everyone is this film. Even the kid(s) were ok. Shout out to Travis Fimmel - I'm glad he's getting better roles since the Viking series - Richard Gunn, and Francis Fisher. I felt that their portrayals were outstanding.

Directing: Also good, IMO. There weren't any fillers or wasted shots, I thought. The actions were quite good, as well - I knew where everyone was at all times and what was happening. As were the dialogues and the quieter moments.

Cinematography: Montana is simply beautiful. I wished there had been more wide vista shots, but it's a quibble. Generally, what we had were good and established well the period and locations.

Overall: 7.5.

Not watching this movie would be denying the work/art that Halyna Hutchins created and was her final legacy. I wanted to watch and see what she did as a female cinematographer. I had a feeling she would be very good and she did not disappoint. I like westerns for the scenery and horses. Halyna did many great sky scenes that were beautiful and reminded me of the cinematography in the movie Nomadland which was the first movie to highlight natural sky scenes. The Rust script wasn't bad and I found Harlan Rust's dialogue to be quite witty---many Rust-isms that were decent. There are many movies out recently that are a lot worse---especially the constant horror movies to satiate the younger crowd. This film is not for ADD, immature young people who want to act out during Minecraft or believe in vampires. If you loved Dances With Wolves, Yellowstone--it is like a good episode that won't win any awards but is still worth viewing.

If you watched the Hulu documentary "Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna", you would go to see the work of this great cinematographer because it was her families wishes for everyone to see her work.

As for the movie, a lot of the shots were absolutely stunning and truly conveyed the atmosphere and spirit of the film.

While some parts of the movie could have been more refined and were a little drawn out, the overall story line was good and fitting of a classic western. The actors were the right fit. Alec Baldwin and Patrick McDermott did a good job!

Sometimes simple is better. In all, I think it was worth the watch.

This one's ratings are a victim of politics. That and limited attention spans.

This is a worth watching. Great scenery, fine acting, an engaging and memorable story.

Westerns aren't for everyone. I suppose what is slow to one person is called character building to another. The pacing is fine. Each scene adds a little more and builds momentum.

I don't want to talk about the politics and bad faith reviews, so I'm not. Nor do I think the reviews repeatedly calling it "slow" are fair. It's set in a time when the pace of life was different. When traveling from one place to the next took time, and the people you met along the way might be dangerous.

I can browse through a list of movies to watch and spot plenty of what isn't for me. I almost skipped this one because I assumed it was a bunch of Baldwin nonsense. But it's just fine. Heavier atmosphere, action on the more intense side of things, characters with character.

7.9/10.