Dear Readers
I don’t often spend money to see a western in theater, and if statistics are to be believed, neither do most other people. However, occasionally an exceptional cast, and interesting trailer are enough to draw me on a five dollar Tuesday. After a long day at work for me, and a rough day at school for my sister, we decided we needed a way to decompress, so we met up to check out Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt in the remake of The Magnificent 7. Also, be warned, there will be spoilers later on.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the film. All the characters were interesting, with quirks and emotional moments that made them relatable. The story was nothing special; if you have seen one western, you have kinda seen them all. In the first ten minutes of the story, the villain is established as money grubbing coward who controls all the industry in the town, is trying to buy out (steal) land from the honest farmers, in a mad rush for gold, who psychologically torments children, threatens women, kills good men, and burns churches. I felt like I was literally ticking boxes in the western villain cliche category. The heroes were a little better, but still felt like they were designed to fit the stereotypes; the lone gunslinger who fights for righteousness (Denzel of course), the wisecracking, womanizing gambler (Pratt), the former Confederate officer and sharpshooter, his Chinese sidekick who (somehow successfully) brings a knife and martial arts skills to a shootout, the Mexican desperado, the mountain man, and “the indian.” Like I mentioned earlier, each of the characters does have some interesting quirks and moments, but overall, the cast seems like a grab-bag of western stereotypes. However, as I mentioned last month in my analysis of Central Intelligence, that is one of the charms of the film. We as an audience are greeted by characters we already know and love; seeing them play out or confound their stereotypes is one of the delights of the film.
Really, that is my main criticism but also enjoyment of this film. It does not really defy the stereotypes, but it plays with them and makes them a little bit more complicated. It is a subtle difference, but it leaves the audience thinking about people, and how individuals respond to the horrible things that happen in their lives. The men in this film, despite their many and varied flaws, ultimately choose to put the lives and wellbeing of others ahead of their own, to take up a cause that is not necessarily theirs, and (for some of them) to make the ultimate sacrifice. The traditional take of the western, and the subtle shifts they make in the portrayal of the characters allows the film to deal with issues of suffering, personal character, and self sacrifice and a complex and rich manner.
One of the subtle shifts that I really appreciated was the sense of humor intrinsic to the characters. “In the face of certain death” the characters still retain their ability to laugh, to make jokes, to delight in life, a fact that is both heart wrenching and jarring. At times, the laughs come so fast and hard, it feels like you are watching a comedy, and spoof of the traditional, serious western. Ultimately, however, the humor provides a stark contrast with the grim reality of the film- no one walks out of a gunfight unscathed, and many people don’t walk out of it, period. In some ways, the tone was unsettling; it felt like the movie could not decide whether it wanted to be a comedy or a tragedy. On further consideration, however, the film felt more realistic to life, where the grimmer circumstances would become, the more the characters would laugh, as a form of defiance against the eminent tragedy, determined to find joy, no matter what the world handed them. This was the theme that I thought was most impactful, the ode to the indomitability of the human spirit. I am going to get up on my soap box for a moment; in my work, I am constantly meeting people who blame circumstances or others for their lack of joy. They let people who are unkind to them steal their joy, they let circumstances that they don’t like sap their happiness. The most powerful message of this film was, even when things are dark and grim, you can choose to joke, to crack wise, to laugh. True joy is not dependent on the ongoing events, it is a conscious choice to smile in the face of adversity, to not let what is happening make you unhappy.
Ok, rant over.
Overall, I enjoyed The Magnificent 7. It balanced humor and seriousness, had some intricate character development, but at the same time retained the bones of the classic western. Denzel Washington’s performance was a tad careful, but well done, Chris Pratt was a bit over the top, but was also the center of much of the humor. The rest of the cast were perfect in their roles, totally embodying their characters. There were a couple of technical issues with the film (my sister was endlessly annoyed by the fact that the characters wore anachronistic, rubber soled boots), and the villain was overblown and unoriginal, but overall, the film was very enjoyable and well worth the cost of admission.
Well, back to reality!
