Ang Lee directs Tobey Maguire, Jeffrey Wright and Jewel in this epic drama following the farm boys who join the South in the American Civil War but begin to question the values they are fighting for.

Ang Lee’s forgotten good ‘un. Doesn’t sit comfortably with either his indisputable masterpieces or his admirable follies. When it rages and roars with big on-location battles it is very magnetic. The skirmishes are brutish and tactile. The character arcs that scaffold the adventure though are quite brittle. These aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box and their change of heart over the years is not as interesting as anyone who made this clearly thought they should be. There’s a lot of potent talent here so it is somewhat ironic that the two most memorable performances are from the weakest links. Cute, helium voiced pop star Jewel never truly made another proper movie. And Jonathan Rhys Meyer’s baddie, with his unwavering evil and long sleek hair, comes straight from the school of Japanese manga villainy. Everyone else feels a little dampened by the mud and sideburns. Flawed but worth an afternoon.

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Last Samurai (2003)

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