Jane Got a Gun – Film Review by Fran Winston

Directed by: Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton. Noah Emmerich, Rodrigo Santoro, Boyd Holbrook, Ewan McGregor
In cinemas April 22nd

This Western has one of the most tumultuous production stories in the history of movie making. With a script by Brian Duffield that was on the Black List (an annual listing of the most popular unproduced screenplays) this has been in production since 2012. It has seen actors and crew, including a director, come and go and there was far more drama off screen than there could ever be on it.

Even getting a release date proved far from simple with the movie being pushed back several times thanks in part to a distributor going bankrupt. So the fact it made it into cinemas at all is to be commended.

Star Natalie Portman is one of the few key players who has been with the project since the beginning. She plays Jane Hammond who has managed to build a new life for herself with her husband Ham (Emmerich) after previous torment from a gang known as the Bishop Boys. However when her husband finds himself at their mercy once again she has to call on her former fiancé Dan Frost (Edgerton) to help her defend her family which causes conflicts and tensions outside of the immediate threat.

Other than the fact this has a female protagonist this is a pretty standard Western. Well shot and paced it’s the classic good guys defending their homestead from the evil gang who come into town and cause chaos. Portman is steely as Jane who is determined to protect her family at any cost and Emmerich and Edgerton have a great underlying tension. Although there are some lovely scenes aided by the stunning landscape (once they get out of the homestead) this is a pretty pedestrian movie. That said I found it hard not to dwell on all the production issues while watching which may have coloured my perception.

If you like Westerns this should satisfy. It doesn’t bring anything new to the genre and is unlikely to become a classic but it is decent enough movie thanks to the chemistry between the cast. It’s like eating fast food – you’ll be satisfied for a while but hungry for more an hour later.