|
|
|
Ride with the Devil
*
Rated on a 4-star
scale
USA
Directed by Ang Lee
Written by James Schamus
Based on the novel "Woe to Live On" by Daniel Woodrell
CAST.....
Tobey Maguire..... Jake Roedel
Skeet Ulrich..... Jack Bull Chiles
Jeffrey Wright..... Daniel Holt
Jewel..... Sue Lee Shelley
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers..... Pitt Mackeson
Simon Baker-Denny..... George Clyde
It's common knowledge that much of the American
Civil War was not fought through grand battles, but by rioting and plundering
in small Southern towns. What we may have forgotten, or never realised, is
that therefore many of the fighters were not official army personnel -- simply
boys who felt passionate about defending what they felt was theirs, and who
independently formed their own armed gangs.
Ang Lee's "Ride With the Devil"
follows four members of one such disorganised band, the "Bushwackers" --
so named, I suppose, because of their tendency to lurk in bushes before attacks,
or maybe thanks to their wild, unwashed hair. Tobey Maguire is the actor
with the most screen time in this 138-minute epic, as Jake Roedel, a soft-spoken
lad who is nonetheless able to take control of weighty situations. He is
accompanied by best friend Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich), an eager scrapper
and ladies' man; another old pal, George Clyde (Simon Baker-Denny); and slave
Daniel Holt (Jeffrey Wright), who grew up with George, and has followed him
all the way into fighting for the Confederacy.
Our quartet get in battles from time to time,
drift in and out of larger groups of Bushwackers and move between different
houses and campsites, before story details accumulate and force them to make
decisions about settling down. The plot usually seems aimless, and I suppose
it needs to, to express the disorganised and hopeless nature of its
events.
But an aimless plot needs to be backed up by strong
characters and atmosphere. Instead we get surroundings that, while convincing,
are grim and depressing, plus characters that are odious even as concepts.
Why is it that Civil War movies find it acceptable to see things from the
Confederate point of view? Yeah, I know it's the untold side of history,
but so is that of the Nazis, and no film would dare sympathise with their
political party without careful moral justification. "Ride With the Devil"(even
the title reminds me of the reprehensible "Gone With the Wind") lazily inserts
Holt as The Black Character, hoping we'll figure that his companions can't
really be racist, and they're only fighting to protect their communities,
rather than redneck ideology.
Tosh, what twaddle! In actual fact, the characters'
positive attitudes to Holt are just nonsensical, because these boys are
racists and do support slavery. As for the Negro himself... well,
as with all slaves who battled on behalf of their masters in the Civil War,
he's a pathetic traitor. Or a fool. Or both.
There are interesting developments shortly before
the movie's ending, when it begins to rely more on the character Sue Lee
Shelley, a love interest for Jack Bull and Jake. Country singer Jewel Kilcher,
in her motion picture acting debut, allegedly memorised lines by singing
them to herself, and it's a good technique -- shining through her eyes in
every scene is a passion that the screenplay doesn't deserve. Otherwise,
this effort from erstwhile great director Lee ("The Wedding Banquet", "Eat
Drink Man Woman", "Sense and Sensibility", "The Ice Storm") is a massive
disappointment. "Ride With the Devil" is exactly the journey the title suggests,
and once we've refused to take the unwholesome trip, it's hard to follow
its path. We're too disconnected, angry and bored.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
1999 Reviews
(alphabetical)
1999 Reviews (by star
rating)
Archive of all cinema reviews
(alphabetical)
Review Archive
Index
UK
Critic main page
|
|
![[Image]](http://www.ukcritic.com/posbanr2.gif)