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Thus reasoned young bushwhacker Jake Roedel, (Tobey Maguire) summing up the condition of his native Missouri, torn apart by savage guerilla warfare, as neighbor fought and killed neighbor during the Civil War. This outstanding movie manages to consume distinguished the same attitude as it tells the yarn of this troubling period that has usually been handled in a noteworthy more partisan manner.
The Civil War in Missouri was particularly unpleasant, as the loyalties and interests of the population split between the Union and the Confederacy. Few regular troops were committed to Missouri, and most of the fighting was done by roving gangs of Irregulars; Secessionist Bushwhackers and Unionist Jayhawkers. These men more often made war on those who once had been their neighbors and friends than on uniformed troops, and poor atrocities that were more execute than war were committed by each side.
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`Ride with the Devil’ is an incredibly thoughtful and nuanced telling of this unlit account. All of the protagonists are bushwhackers, but the movie does not attempt to paint them as pure heroes fighting against scandalous for all that is fine and correct. Instead, it manages to reveal them as young men who had the pain to be caught up in the sweep of history and forced into a violent life by unavoidable circumstances. We scrutinize the struggle some of them had between the violent actions that had become their life and their have sense of decency, and we peer others enthusiastically revel in the murderous mayhem - gratified for the excuse the war had given them to be free of the constraints of civilized society. One scene in particular drives home the fact that these warriors were more boys than men. Jake (Maguire) faces his unusual bride, a young women already widowed by the war (Jewel) in the bedroom on their wedding night. When she asks him if he is a virgin, he blusters that “I’ve seen plenty” and when ask again if he has been with a woman, he seems frozen with apprehension, and only manages to say, “Girl, I’ve killed fifteen men.” These were boys forced to become killers before many had the chance to be lovers.
Though there were no Unionist protagonists in this film, it worn an effective blueprint to assign across the humanity of the bushwhacker’s enemies. A captured mailbag was plundered, and letters were read aloud as the bushwhacker’s searched for enemy secrets. The letters turned out to be mundane messages from mothers to sons and brother to brother. The young men heard and respond how like their beget mothers and brothers these people sounded, and how in other circumstances they might get them pretty people, before someone reminded them that the sons of that mother would demolish them, given the chance.
`Ride with the Devil’ is filmed beautifully, and is as finish to being cinematically perfect as could be desired. Its scenes of violence are snappy, realistic, and brutal, but the film does not dwell on them. Indeed, there are long sequences that deal with nothing but the complex interpersonal relationships of the characters, and action war movie junkies are likely to derive `Ride with the Devil’ a disappointment despite its realism. Tobey Maguire is perfectly cast as a afraid, decent young man trying to believe his integrity in a violent life, and Jeffery Wright is outstanding as a freed slave who fights for the bushwhackers out of loyalty to his friend who freed him. All of the roles are well cast and acted, including Jewel in her film debut as a young Confederate widow.
`Ride with the Devil’ is the best done of any Civil War film that I have yet seen. It is beautifully filmed, skillfully acted, intelligently written, and tells its narrative with fairness and perspective. Unfortunately, its virtues are exceeded by its obscurity, as so many have never heard of it. Now that you know of it, don’t cheat yourself by missing this outstanding film.
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This is one of those rare movies where everybody got it factual —from the cinematography to the casting; from the musical gather to film editing; from costume gain to second unit directing this movie is nearly flawless. The directing by Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility) and the performance by a extraordinary ensemble cast establish this movie in a league with the ample unique frontier movies like The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Long Riders.
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Set on the Missouri/Kansas border during the American Civil War, the movie faithfully recreates the narrative told by Daniel Woodrell in his astonishing original, Woe To Live On. The book is worth reading for the dialogue alone and the movie is worth watching simply for James Schamus’ stunning screenplay: But there is remarkable go to admire about this movie.
The tapestry upon which the fable of Meander With The Devil is painted is a violent one but, apart from some very graphic scenes, is more about human nature than anything else. Indeed, the depth of the violence only adds to the poignancy of the surprisingly frequent gentle scenes that occur in the movie. Tobey Macguire is perfect in the lead role, Jewel gives a surprisingly intuitive performance, and Jefrey Wright almost steals the reveal with his low-key, but passionate performance as a freed slave riding with a gang of white bushwhackers. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Macguire’s nemesis, has a shrimp section but is death himself. (His final confrontation with Macguire is brief and chilling — and encapsulates the entire sense and sensibility of the movie.)
Sadly, this movie will probably go unnoticed by the general public since it seems to have had a small release in the US and gone almost immediately from the theater to the rental market. Hopefully word-of-mouth will fabricate interest in this truly great American classic. Explore it — but read the book too.
