THE THICKET Review: Peter Dinklage And Juliette Lewis Trade Bullets And Battle Scars

who keeps saying the Western is dead the genre has been less in need of a comeback than it is right now and this year has seen many different interpretations of the old west the most unsparing of them all is the thicket a longtime passion project of star and producer Peter Dinklage I mean we covered this movie back in 2014 this brutal adaptation of Joe randal's book features memorably grizzled characters in a lawless icy Frontier seeking Vengeance Redemption family or money which ever comes first while it doesn't break the genre mold the thicket is another strong entry for those who crave the violent conflicts and broken morality tales of the old west Dinklage takes the role of Reginald Jones a quietly fearsome Bounty Hunter at the turn of the 20th century along with his companion Eustace Howard played by Binga ainab a former slave he finds himself on the hunt for a ruthless Outlaw Cutthroat Bill played by Juliet Lewis for the kidnapping of a young girl Lula played by Esme Creed miles stolen away from her brother Jack played by Blink twi's Leon Hawk who will stop at nothing to find her the plot is straightforward and fitting of the genre it's the characters who make a stand out most including how they're introduced ultimately a film about people seeking some semblance of family the thicket contrasts the opposing sides at every turn Lula and Jack are introduced as they are mourning the deaths of their parents due to a disease Outbreak on the other side Bill short for Willamina crashes a different funeral raids the casket to the shock of mourners and claims something from the corpse Bill's hideously scarred face cches her ugliness on the inside for large portions of the film we see Bill traveling from place to place picking fights with innocence and leaving them dead she has an obsession with pretty things and when confronted with Lula she steals her away leaving Jack unconscious and unsure what to do all of those Bible verses he spouts aren't going to help him with something like this it's easy to see why Dinklage fought so long to have the chance to play Reginal Jones first of all there aren't a ton of gunslinging bounty hunter roles out there for actors like Dinklage so to claim this one is a pretty sweet deal Jones is tough he endorses a lot of insults because of his stature but those who underestimate him usually meet with a dire fate early on after he and Howard dig a grave for $2 and the customer refuses to pay choosing to humiliate Jones instead well it doesn't end happily for the bullying party let's just put it that way Jones doesn't enter into this rescue mission for Lula or for Jack but the claimed a hefty bounty on Bill's head stealing the film away from Dinklage is Lewis's fiery portrayal of cutthroat Bill while numi rapas had been originally cast in the role and probably would have been great too it feels like a comeback role for Lewis because we haven't seen her do anything this substantive in a long time there are odd complexities to build that make her difficult to get a handle on she cuts a brutal murderous swath along her journey using her mangled face to intimidate people before she kills them but even she has a code Twisted though it might be she won't allow her male companions to lay a finger on Lula suggesting her own traumatized upbringing moments of Lucidity reveal a vulnerable side that she keeps very well hidden away from others Chris Kelly's screenplay knows how to drive the action every scene has a purpose and there's always some kind of violence right around the corner conflicts arise as Jack and Jones's party grows in size Jack's just too naive for this unflinching world and Jones isn't having it but he also becomes something like a mentor to the young man too many characters threaten to get in the way though Westside stories Leslie Grace plays a reformed prostitute Jimmy Sue who needs rescuing so she can enter into an unnecessary love story with Jack it couldn't have felt more forced in this kind of story we also get actor filmmaker mon Blair of Blue Ruin Fame as the most timid member of aosi sent to apprehend Jones there are so many people to keep track of that it takes Focus away from the most interesting ones and muddles our understanding of them to some degree director Elliot Le makes the most of the wide snowy Landscapes to capture the harshness of the period and the cruelty of its people it's clear this is a small budgeted Affair but the limited production values actually work in the thicket favor presenting a desolate haunting atmosphere from which few can emerge unscathed in another strong year for westerns the thicket is one that fans must seek out the thicket opens in theaters on September 6th and it gets a three out of five thanks for checking out the show if you like what we're laying down please subscribe to our Channel and click the Bell to receive notifications for all of our latest stuff