The Thicket

In bright but dark western "The Thicket" Levon Hawke's sis Esme Creed-Miles is taken by notorious crim Juliette Lewis (so good again) & her gang - so Hawke teams with Peter Dinklage (also great), Gbenga Akinnagbe & Leslie Grace to hunt them down across bleak snowy terrain... while they themselves are hunted by James Hetfield (yes, him) & Macon Blair. Characters, dialogue and the relatively simple plot are all well written by first-timer Chris Kelley (based on Jon R Lansdale's novel) and it's superbly directed in his trademark ethereal yet gritty style by the classy Elliott Lester (who's growing a solid reputation). Terrific fare, especially for western genre fans.

Set against the unforgiving backdrop of the Wild West, The Thicket tells the story of a mismatched group of individuals: Reginald Jones, a bounty hunter portrayed by Peter Dinklage; his loyal sidekick Eustace, played by Gbenga Akinnagbe; Jack, who enlists their help to rescue his kidnapped sister (Levon Hawke); Lula, the sister in peril (Esme Creed-Miles); and the menacing outlaw Cut Throat Bill, brought to life by Juliette Lewis.

This film evokes memories of Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti Westerns, yet it opts for a more subdued palette, emphasizing the darker aspects of its narrative and employing somber cinematographic techniques. It is only towards the conclusion that the visuals begin to brighten.

The storyline is populated with nefarious characters and unstable individuals, all too willing to inflict harm on anyone displaying courage or a strong moral compass. Consequently, the innocent siblings endure their share of hardships before they learn to adapt and survive in this brutal, unforgiving environment. Their plight is compounded by the tragic loss of their parents to smallpox and the murder of their grandfather (Guy Sprung) by Bill, which sets off this harrowing journey.

In summary, this film is likely to captivate those in search of a chilling, action-packed thriller that embraces its brutality and mercilessness with a haunting, macabre flair. Enjoy!

I nearly gave up in the first 10 minutes, they are so badly shot and cut.

"Oh god, is this going to be an IFC Midnight effort?" did I say.

But we held on. And suddenly. Without warning. We were watching this most *brilliant* film!!

It snuck up on us.

It's like the opening was done by somebody else in post, without any connection to rest of the project.

This really is a good film, it's an excellent film, it's possibly even a masterpiece. I don't know, I'll have to watch it again some day after the reality distortion has warn off.

It's trippy-as, and in that it reminds me of Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch. Another, excellent, 'Art Western'.

The Thicket seeeeeethes. It's a slow, increasingly nervous build to what you know is going to be one hell of a confrontation.

But it doesn't bore you, or even trust you! It gives you some stuff to entertain you with your popcorn along the way. It is full of awesome scenes!

Lewis deserves every kind of award for Cutthroat Bill.

Dinklage deserves the highest praise in the land for making the project happen.

All of the cast turned in superb performances.

The cinematography who cares (it doesn't even rate a mention these day - yes it's great in this film but it's good in complete piles of sludge too, often it's the only good thing about them).

The music is wonderful - it's like Brian/Roger Eno, or occasionally Boards of Canda. Electronic but not Ironic, it's subtle as hell, used sparingly and suits the mood.

From the absurd 5.something score on here I am guessing that nobody has seen The Thicket.

We need to get the word out and fix that!

For the press run that Peter went on to sell this thing, I was expecting more. I love Juliette Lewis (The Other Sister, From Dusk 'Till Dawn) and she basically carries the entire film. In my opinion, Peter Dinklage gives an unmemorable performance here yet shines in comparison to the rest of the somewhat unknown cast.

As far as Tubi movies go, this is a decent watch. I just felt like there was something missing. As far as westerns go, this one just doesn't feel like it has a lot of grit. I remember watching an interview with Peter where he recalls one of the producers wanting a character in the film to have a "James Hetfield" look (lead singer of Metallica, for those who don't know) and Peter suggested that they just get James Hetfield to do the movie. Well, there is probably a reason why they suggested a professionally trained actor who looks like Hetfield, rather than Hetfield himself. He does an okay job, even kind of bad at times.

I don't want to get political with this review, but I feel like this needs to be addressed. I understand that every movie can't be Django Unchained. I also understand that life imitates art and visa versa, and we are trying to create a better world here. But there is something inside of me that is crying out every time I watch a period piece made in modern times. It seems like Hollywood is desperately trying to rewrite history to make America's past seem way less racist and horrible than it is. This is a pretty good example of that. There is ZERO racial tension in the film, despite the fact that two out of the five characters are African American who go up against some of the frontier's nastiest outlaws. To my knowledge it isn't even mentioned and I didn't know that Reginald's (Dinklage) counterpart Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe) is an ex-slave until I read that in the film's description. No one else in the film mentions it at all. It's not a huge issue, it just feels kind of disrespectful to the people in that time who suffered the horrible atrocities of slavery. I just really don't like the white washing of American history. Sorry, rant over.

Another part of this movie that I didn't enjoy is seeing Andrew Schulz in the film. I don't like this man's comedy, I don't care for his podcast, and I think that he does a middling job here. He also sports the exact same haircut and mustache that we see in modern times which feels out of place. I remember a golden age of film where truly talented actors was enough to get people to see your film. Now we're at a point where we are relying on YouTube stars to get people to watch. It makes me kind of sad honestly.

I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. The cinematography is pretty good, despite the fact they use plenty of cheat codes (filming a western and using a winter backdrop, for example). I saw this for free so I guess beggar's can't be choosers, but I found this film to be average at best.

The story and plot was easy to become invested in. It has gritty, interesting, and engaging characters. The story is compelling, violent, raw, and unpredictable. The outlaws were very bad, and the good guys felt like real people. There were many very tense and exciting scenes. The scenery and settings were authentic to a turn of the century rustic western era. The character acting was flawless throughout. I also quite enjoyed the music track. Overall, this movie was well written, well made, well acted, engaging, interesting and worthwhile. I can easily recommend it, but, it's not suitable for children.