Jane Got A Gun
A Portman’s gotta do…
It’s hard to review Jane Got A Gun for what it is rather than what might have been – during a production resembling a high-noon shootout, director Lynne Ramsay ( We Need To Talk About Kevin) and stars such as Michael Fassbender and Jude Law all ran for the hills. Kudos, then, to producer/star Natalie Portman and director Gavin O’Connor ( Pride And Glory, Warrior) for keeping their sights steady and delivering a handsome postCivil War western that’s enamoured of genre traditions even as it offers a revisionist riff.
1871. Riddled with lead, Bill (Noah Emmerich), husband of Jane (Portman), returns to their homestead in New Mexico warning that John Bishop (Ewan McGregor, all but twirling his moustache) and his gang are in pursuit. Jane, whose sharp features and ramrod posture – to say nothing of her skills with a shotgun – mark her as a capable woman in this most male of genres, promptly rides their young daughter to safety and then corrals hard-drinking ex-soldier Dan (Joel Edgerton) into aiding her preparations for the outlaws’ imminent arrival.
Any problems are structural, with the narrative’s otherwise confident canter towards an intriguingly handled siege finale too frequently halted by flashbacks. Events of the past 10 years have been tricksy, it transpires, with Jane, Bill, Dan and Bishop inextricably partnered in a dance of death. But while these windows into the past allow for honey-hued romantic interludes (a ride in a hot-air balloon!) and psychological traumas that are openly discussed – both things uncommon in a genre that trades on being tough and taciturn – you can’t help wishing the backstories were a little leaner and cleaner.
Still, the arid landscapes are handsomely shot, the set-pieces punchy and intimate, and the performances robust, with Portman reminding us just how good an actress she is as her no-nonsense Jane gets on with the business of survival. Portman the producer, it seems, did exactly the same. Jamie Graham THE VERDICT Dusting itself off from a nightmare production, this western finally arrives to shoot, for the most part, straight and true. It certainly ain’t no calamity Jane. › Certificate 15 Director Gavin O’Connor Staring Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, Noah Emmerich, Boyd Holbrook Screenplay Brian Duffield, Anthony Tambakis, Joel Edgerton Distributor Lionsgate Running time 98 mins