The Harder They Fall Movie Review: Idris Elba and Jonathan Majors’ Netflix Film Is a Stylish, Revisionist but Unmemorable Take On the Western Genre (LatestLY Exclusive)

The Harder They Fall Movie Review: Oh, I had so much hopes with this one! With a title that kinda prophesies how it would eventually turn out, The Harder They Fall should have been a fantastic addition to the Western genre that lacks the golden high once brought in by the likes of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. It has a revisionist take on the genre using some well-known names from the Old West (though not all of them are cowboys or cowgirls, Stagecoach Mary for one), and use them in a fictional premise, high on bullets and bloody splatter. With a fantastic cast in the lead and some stylish direction from Jeymes Samuel, The Harder They Fall has some major positives going on in its side. On the other hand, though, it has a hardly impressive storyline, save for that twist in the tale towards the end. The Harder They Fall: Idris Elba, Regina King's Netflix Film Production Halted as a Crew Member Tests COVID-19 Positive.

Basically, The Harder They Fall is a revenge story of Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) seeking vengeance for the murder of his parents when he was just 10. The target of his vendetta is Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) who had recently been released from incarceration with the help of his gang members, Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (Lakeith Stanfield).

In his vendetta mission, Love is joined by his love Mary (Zazie Beetz), her right-hand Cuffee (Danielle Deadwyler), and Love's former gang members Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and Jim Beckwourth (RJ Cyler), along with the marshal Bass Reeves (Delroy Lindo).

Watch the Trailer:

The Harder They Fall may not have a different storyline to boast off, but it manages to grab your attention in how it is presented. From the slo-mo swagger that makes every character look cool on the screen (even the horses have some swag) to some very stylish shootouts and some entertaining wisecracks, Jeymes Samuel - with a history of music videos behind him - offers a dazzling presentation that looks good while it lasts.

Be it the train scene where Trudy and Bill rescue Buck, or when Nat Love and gang ride in to Redwood, Buck's town to rescue Mary, are well-shot. And when the presentation isn't strong enough to hold your interest, there is always that fantastic ensemble of actors to back on, each ruling over the screen with the kind of panache that this movie over-deserves. Just see the sequence where Regina King's character reveals her backstory to Mary to know what I mean, even though, it hardly matters much to the plot.

Alas, I wish the screenplay would have been better, instead of trudging along the familiar plotlines. Alas, I wish that there was some sort of plug on the musical pieces inserted in the movie, which as fun the numbers were, were way too much (almost becoming a Suicide Squad travesty). Alas, I also wish The Harder They Fell stopped resorting to cliches, like killing off a major character who keeps talking off his mouth, and having the need for the heroes to rescue a female in captive. Revisionist is fine - QT makes a career out of that - but also revise the tropes that come with this genre. Idris Elba Birthday Special: From the Suicide Squad to Thor Ragnarok, Here Are Five of His Best Movies Ranked According to IMDb.

The most striking scene comes in the climax when Nat Love faces Buck for that final face-off. It involves a twist that didn't really get me, but it is Elba's terrific performance at that moment that got me as he tearfully reveals his true entire plan for revenge. The only thing is that a few years back, another villain from a very cult Korean film went a few more extremes to take a similar plan of vengeance on corrupting the protagonist.

Yay!

- The Acting Ensemble

- The Stylish Presentation

Nay!

- Weak Screenplay

- Not a Memorable Entry in the Western

Final Thoughts

The biggest grouse I have with The Harder They Fall is that with the kind of talent assembled, I had expected nothing less than a masterpiece in the Western genre. Instead what I got was, 'the bigger they (the inadequacies) come, the harder they (the expectations) fall'. The Harder They Fall is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 03, 2021 09:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).