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Hostiles (film)

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Hostiles
Theatrical release poster
Directed byScott Cooper
Screenplay byScott Cooper
Story byDonald E. Stewart
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMasanobu Takayanagi
Edited byTom Cross
Music byMax Richter
Production
companies
  • Waypoint Entertainment
  • Le Grisbi Productions
  • Bloom Media
Distributed byEntertainment Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • September 2, 2017 (2017-09-02) (Telluride)
  • December 22, 2017 (2017-12-22) (United States)
Running time
133 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
Languages
Budget$39 million[2][3][4]
Box office$40 million[5]

Hostiles is a 2017 American Western film written and directed by Scott Cooper, based on a story by Donald E. Stewart. It stars Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Q'orianka Kilcher, Timothée Chalamet and Scott Wilson in his final film role. It follows a U.S. Army cavalry officer who must escort a Cheyenne war chief and his family back to their home in Montana in 1892.

The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2017, and had a limited release in the United States by Entertainment Studios starting December 22, 2017, before going wide on January 26, 2018. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $39 million worldwide.

Plot

In 1892, settler Rosalee Quaid and her family are attacked by a Comanche war group who kill and scalp her husband and also shoot and kill her three children. Only Rosalee manages to escape the attack by hiding in a small rock outcrop in the forest.

In Fort Berringer, New Mexico, Captain Joseph Blocker rounds up an escaping Apache family and brings them back to the fort. He is then called to the office of Colonel Abraham Biggs, who informs him of his final orders before retirement. On a directive from President Harrison, he is to escort dying Cheyenne war chief, Yellow Hawk, and four members of his family back to their tribal lands in Montana. Under threat of a court-martial and loss of his pension, Blocker reluctantly accepts, despite his own gory history with the chief, who was responsible for the death of several of his friends and comrades. Blocker chooses the detail that will accompany him: his trusty old friend, Sergeant Thomas Metz, long-time aide Corporal Woodson, and promising newcomer Lieutenant Kidder, fresh from West Point. Biggs also assigns to the detail a young French-speaking recruit, Private DeJardin.

They begin their journey but Blocker orders a stop and has the two native men put in chains. The group comes across the charred Quaid house and dead settler. Inside the house, they find Rosalee and her three "sleeping" children. Rosalee is initially hostile towards the Cheyenne family because of the attack on her family but agrees to sleep in their camp after some coaxing from Blocker. She is convinced to bury her family and join Blocker's detail until their next stop-over. They are soon ambushed by the Comanche party, resulting in DeJardin's death and Woodson being seriously wounded. After this attack, Yellow Hawk convinces Blocker that it is in everyone's best interest to unchain him and his family. The next day, the bodies of the surviving Comanche party, who had managed to flee during their previous encounter, are discovered dead. Blocker deduces that Yellow Hawk and his son, Black Hawk, killed them thanks to Metz allowing them to leave the camp during the night.

After a brief stop at Fort Winslow in Colorado to drop off the wounded Woodson and widow Rosalee, Blocker is asked to take disgraced Sergeant Charles Wills, who killed a family with an ax, to be court-martialed and hanged at his original post along the way to Montana. Joining Blocker’s company to oversee Wills are Corporal Tommy Thomas and Sergeant Malloy. Meanwhile, Rosalee decides to continue on with Blocker, despite being offered sanctuary at Fort Winslow until the next supply train at Christmas. One night, the women are abducted by three fur traders as they wash dishes in the stream by their camp. The company, assisted by Yellow Hawk and Black Hawk, track down the fur traders, slaughter them and rescue the women; however, Sergeant Malloy is killed. During a downpour, Wills fools Kidder into sympathetically undoing his chains, then kills him and escapes, but not before Blocker wounds him. Metz tracks down and kills Wills, then takes his own life, succumbing to decades of PTSD.

They arrive at the chief's tribal lands in Montana where he succumbs to his illness and is buried. A man and his three sons ride up, state that they own the land, and order Blocker and the rest of the group to leave with the chief's body. Blocker informs them of his Presidential authority but a brutal gun battle ensues leaving only three survivors: Blocker, Rosalee, and Yellow Hawk's young grandson, Little Bear. In the final scene, Rosalee and Little Bear reluctantly depart on a train from Montana to Chicago, without Blocker, but, at the last second, Blocker steps onto the back of the train and into the carriage.

Cast

  • Christian Bale as Captain Joseph J. Blocker, a veteran of the Indian Wars, with a reputation as a ruthless killer.
  • Rosamund Pike as Rosalee Quaid, a suicidal widow who joins Blocker's detail after the murder of her family by Comanches.
  • Wes Studi as Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hawk, an imprisoned and sickly war chief being taken home to die, and the father of Black Hawk and Living Woman.
  • Jesse Plemons as Lieutenant Rudy Kidder, a fresh West Point graduate, part of the detail to escort Yellow Hawk home.
  • Adam Beach as Black Hawk, Yellow Hawk's son and Elk Woman's husband.
  • Rory Cochrane as First Sergeant Thomas Metz, a war-weary veteran who is among Blocker's oldest friends, part of the detail to escort Yellow Hawk Home.
  • Peter Mullan as Lieutenant Colonel Ross McCowan, commander of Fort Winslow, Colorado.
  • Scott Wilson as Cyrus Lounde, the owner of Yellow Hawk's ancestral land. Wilson's final film appearance before his death in 2018.
  • Paul Anderson as Corporal Tommy Thomas, a soldier from Fort Winslow escorting Wills to his hanging.
  • Timothée Chalamet as Private Philippe DeJardin, the youngest member of the detail to escort Yellow Hawk Home.
  • Ben Foster as Sergeant Charles Wills, a criminal soldier whom Blocker is charged of escorting to his hanging.
  • Jonathan Majors as Corporal Henry Woodson, a soldier who served under Blocker since many years, part of the detail to escort Yellow Hawk Home.
  • John Benjamin Hickey as Captain Royce Tolan, a soldier stationed at Fort Berringer alongside Blocker.
  • Q'orianka Kilcher as Elk Woman, Black Hawk's wife.
  • Tanaya Beatty as Living Woman, Black Hawk's sister.
  • Stephen Lang as Colonel Abraham Biggs, Blocker's commanding officer
  • Bill Camp as Jeremiah Wilks, frontier correspondent for Harper's Weekly.
  • Scott Shepherd as Wesley Quaid, Rosalee's slaughtered husband.
  • Ryan Bingham as Sergeant Malloy, a soldier from Fort Winslow escorting Wills to his hanging.
  • Robyn Malcolm as Minnie McCowan, Colonel McCowan's wife.
  • Xavier Horsechief as Little Bear, the young son of Black Hawk and Elk Woman.

Production

The project was announced in February 2016 with Scott Cooper as the director and Christian Bale starring as the main character.[6] In March, Rosamund Pike was cast, and a production start date of July was announced.[7] In April, Jesse Plemons was added to the project as a member of the unit and his role was to escort the war chief home.[8] Wes Studi and Adam Beach were signed in June. Studi played the dying war chief.[9] In mid-July, Timothée Chalamet joined the film playing as Private Philippe DeJardin.[10]

Filming began late July in Santa Fe. Ben Foster, amongst others, were added to the cast at the beginning of filming. Ryan Bingham, who also stars in the film, wrote and performed "How Shall A Sparrow Fly" for the soundtrack. Max Richter composed the score for the film, which was released by Deutsche Grammophon.[11]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2017.[12] It was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017.[13] Shortly after, Entertainment Studios acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[14] It was released in a limited release in the United States on December 22, 2017, before expanding wide a month later.

Reception

Box office

Hostiles grossed $29.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $35.1 million.[5]

In the United States and Canada, following several weeks in a limited run where it grossed $1.8 million, Hostiles had its wide expansion alongside the release of Maze Runner: The Death Cure, and was expected to gross around $10 million from 2,813 theaters over the weekend.[15] It ended up opening to $10.1 million, finishing third behind The Death Cure ($24.2 million) and holdover Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($16.1 million).[3] In its second weekend the film dropped 49.5% to $5.1 million, finishing fifth at the box office.[16]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 180 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Hostiles benefits from stunning visuals and a solid central performance from Christian Bale, both of which help elevate its uneven story."[17] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an overall 72% positive score.[3]

Following its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, Sasha Stone of TheWrap, wrote of the audiences' reaction to the film, saying, "Riveted by the glorious storytelling of Hostiles, a few Telluride audience members burst into spontaneous applause as it built to its conclusion".[19] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote praise of the film and of the performance of Christian Bale, concluding that the film is an "estimable piece of work grounded by a fine-grain sensibility and an expertly judged lead performance".[20]

Most of the negative criticism of the movie is directed at its director Scott Cooper. William Bibbiani of IGN criticized Scott Cooper of wasting the talent of its actors and cinematographer in a "by-the-numbers storyline with a rather obvious message about how it’s harder to be despicable to people after you get to know them". He went on to say "Scott Cooper directs Hostiles with an eye for 'greatness' but the actual material simply isn’t deep enough to justify the solemn presentation. It’s not entertaining, it’s not illuminating, it’s not even complicated. It’s mostly just a bummer".[21]

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) lauded Hostiles for its "authentic representation of Native Peoples" and accurate rendition of Native American languages.[22]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref.
San Diego Film Critics Society December 11, 2017 Best Costume Design Jenny Eagan Nominated [23]
Saturn Awards June 27, 2018 Best Action or Adventure Film Hostiles Nominated [24][25]
Best Actress Rosamund Pike Nominated

References

  1. ^ "HOSTILES (15)". British Board of Film Classification. May 15, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Keegan, Rebecca (January 11, 2018). "Can Scott Cooper's Winning Western Wrangle an Oscar Nod?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 28, 2018). "Fox Controls Close To 40% Of Weekend B.O. Led By 'Maze Runner' & Oscar Holdovers; 'Hostiles' Gallops Past $10M". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  4. ^ Tatiana Siegel; Ashley Lee (October 3, 2017). "Christian Bale Drama 'Hostiles' Sells to Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Hostiles (2017)". The Numbers. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  6. ^ Jaafar, Ali (February 18, 2016). "Christian Bale To Star In Scott Cooper's 'Hostiles'". Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  7. ^ Jr, Mike Fleming (March 9, 2016). "Rosamund Pike To Star With Christian Bale In Scott Cooper-Helmed 'Hostiles'". Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 6, 2016). "Jesse Plemons Joins Christian Bale in Scott Cooper's 'Hostiles' (EXCLUSIVE)". Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Busch, Anita (June 14, 2016). "Adam Beach Joins Christian Bale In Scott Cooper's 'Hostiles'". Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  10. ^ Ford, Rebecca (July 21, 2016). "'Interstellar' Actor Timothee Chalamet Joins Scott Cooper's 'Hostiles' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  11. ^ Jr, Mike Fleming (July 27, 2016). "Ben Foster Rounds Out Scott Cooper's 'Hostiles' Cast As Shooting Starts". Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  12. ^ Hammond, Pete (August 31, 2017). "'Darkest Hour', 'Battle Of The Sexes', 'Lady Bird' Among World Premieres In 2017 Lineup – Telluride Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  13. ^ "Hostiles". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  14. ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (October 3, 2017). "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Acquires 'Hostiles;' Christian Bale-Starrer Gets Oscar Season Berth". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  15. ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 25, 2018). "Box-Office Preview: 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Eyes $20M U.S. Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  16. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 4, 2018). "'Jumanji' Poised To Be Dwayne Johnson's Highest Grossing Pic Of All-Time Stateside After Super Bowl Weekend Rebound". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  17. ^ "Hostiles (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  18. ^ "Hostiles Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  19. ^ "'Hostiles' Review: Christian Bale Drives a Great American Western". TheWrap. September 3, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  20. ^ "'Hostiles': Film Review - Telluride 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  21. ^ "'Hostiles'". IGN. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  22. ^ Schilling, Vincent (2018-01-08). "'Hostiles' Movie Starring Wes Studi, Christian Bale Will Screen in DC". Indian Country Media Network. Retrieved 2018-01-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  23. ^ "2017 San Diego Film Critics Society's Award Nominations". San Diego Film Critics Society. December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  24. ^ "'Black Panther,' 'Walking Dead' Rule Saturn Awards Nominations". Variety. March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  25. ^ "'Black Panther' Tops 44th Saturn Awards With Five; 'Blade Runner 2049' , 'Shape Of Water', 'Get Out' Also Score". Saturn awards. June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
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