Chapter thirty-eight: The Homesman

Hi, happy Sunday! I think I'll start doing some sort of small introduction now and in entries hereafter; I think it makes the blog seem more personal and the transition between posts less awkward. This week is The Homesman - a movie from 2014 based on Glendon Swarthout's 1998 novel and directed by Tommy Lee Jones. It actually lines up pretty nicely for a show my Drama Club is scheduled to perform next weekend called Leaving Iowa. The two stories are entirely unrelated, but have similar settings, so I thought that was cool. I'm a spotlight operator for the show (right stage) and am proud to say that I now have experience in all three theater departments (technical, crew, and acting.) All departments carry an equal 33.3 percent of the show and are not complete without one another.

In recent news, Meryl has two new movies coming out within a day of each other. Let Them All Talk is a movie on HBO Max where she portrays author Alice Hughes that is set to release on December 10th, and The Prom is a Netflix adaptation of the hit musical where she plays the somewhat vain DeDe Allen, debuting December 11th. You can imagine what I'll be doing that week! Until then, I'm counting down the days until Thanksgiving (eleven) while keeping my sanity as I fill out the multicolumn journals and departmental margin statements of my accounting homework:) Anyway, let's begin what you came here for!

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Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) is a woman with a frontier of her own in mid-1850's Nebraska. Contrary to the title, the movie actually centers around her. She's unmarried and strong-willed, which weren't ideal traits for a woman of that time period to have. She knows this and proposes the idea of marriage to a neighboring farmer, but is rejected because she's "just too damn plain." She pulls herself up by the bootstraps and at church later on is informed that a hash winter is expected, and the minister is looking for an escort to take three mentally despondent, distraught women to a safe haven in Iowa where they can be helped back into their old selves in the springtime. Mary Bee shows interest in the task, and against the judgement of some townspeople, proves herself capable of the position. She saddles up, horse, wagon and all, and ventures onward.

Not long into her trip, she unknowingly saves the life of George Briggs, (Tommy Lee Jones) a man who became too entangled in a western gang. Mary Bee uses the life debt that George owes her, and his masculine strength, to her advantage by persuading him to come with her and help along the journey. He has no choice but to accept.

Each of the women they have set out to help have suffered some sort of trauma which has made them completely dependent, withdrawn, and dazed in their own bubbles; it's how they cope. The first, Gro Svendsen, (Sonja Richter) is a Scandinavian woman who was raped and is still affected by her mother's death and her husband not allowing her to give her mother a proper burial. The second, Arabella Sours, (Grace Gummer; Meryl's daughter) is a teenage bride whose three young children have died within days of each other following an outbreak of diptheria. Arabella has since developed an emotional attachment to a hand-sewn doll. The third, Theoline Belknapp's (Miranda Otto's) entire crop and livestock are destroyed, leading her to kill her infant child whom she can no longer provide for. As you can imagine, the heartbreak is conveyed on screen, the bluntness within itself is painful, and their grief is insurmountable.

Their literal road to recovery is not any easier, as I'm sure you can also assume. When one kicks or screams inside the wagon, the others either follow, or start to cry. It's very sad and uneasy just because none of the women know how to behave any better. Civic, societal behavior has been forgotten amgonst all of the sadness in their lives. Throughout most of the film, George is more or less not the comical character per se, but is a ncie offset to Mary Bee's rules and regulations, while Mary Bee is very by-the-book and stedfast. It is difficult to fulfill the errand, and spend long nights out on the chilly winter countryside, but eventually, things do start to turn around for the better for all except Mary Bee. George has rejetced her marriage proposal, and she can no longer handle the sting of rejection. Despite all her hard work, she has ended her own life.

This leaves George with three women who are still shy, timid, and mute, but have developed some differenication between right and wrong. They appear to realize that they are not in danger. George repays his debt to Mary Bee, even without her there, as the four of them finish out the last week of a long expedition to Altha Carter's house where the ladies can get the treatment and attention they deserve. At this point, it's been a long, emotionally-testing, couple of months for everybody involved, and George has committed an extremely illegal crime to keep the women safe, but their journey has poved to be worth it as the women end up in the care of Altha Carter (Meryl) in Iowa by mid-spring.

On the passenger boat to return back home, George celebrates Mary Bee's life and holds a special place in his heart for her.

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So- reviewing it, this movie is much deeper than I originally realized. But it's good. It's got a hint of western feminism in it, which I particularly enjoy, and I like the whole concept that the movie centers around three parallel stories of heartbroken women who are later brought together by the help that they seek. A lot of times people experiencing mental illness, or generally suffering, think that they're the only one. But I think this movie puts emphasis on the idea that no one person is alone in their struggle. Help will arise.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.