The Harder They Fall - Review
Words by Liam Horgan
In recent years the Western has been revisited and reinterpreted. In place of the classical star-studded westerns were more intimate affairs focusing on and around concepts of the lone cowboy, the Wild West, and its legacy. Films like Chloé Zhao’s The Rider (2017), Hell or High Water (2016) and First Cow (2019) are examples of the more intimate offerings that make up the modern western. In contrast, Jeymes Samuel’s The Harder They Fall is in total opposition to its contemporaries. Samuel’s emulates the classical Western in this colourful, explosive film. This Western features an all-Black cast like Idris Elba and Jonathan Majors portraying real-life African American cowboys like Rufus Buck and Nat Love. While the portrayal and story of these legends is often fictitious their legacy is anything but. Every prominent character in this film is played by a Black actor and in doing so Samuels subverts a genre which so often maligns and downplays the legacy of Black people in the Wild West.
The film follows outlaw Nat Love (Majors) who discovers the man who killed his parents, Rufus Buck (Elba), is being released from prison. Seeking revenge, he gathers his gang and allies to take on Buck and his vicious gang. The star-studded cast features Regina King, LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo and many more. With such talent on screen, it’s surprising that this is Samuel’s first feature film. However, the director approaches the material with clear love and dedication. Written by Samuel and Boaz Yakin, the story never loses steam and like all good Westerns is clear on where its final destination is. The cast all do great work with the material with the standouts being Danielle Deadwyler as Cuffee, Lindo as Bass Reeves and King as Trudy Smith.
Left to Right: Bass Reeves (Delroy Lindo), Cuffee (Danielle Deadwyler), Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi)
Cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr. fills the screen with vivid colour not often seen in Western films. The vibrancy of the pictures on screen is a stylistic choice that filmmakers like Tarantino have used in Django Unchained (2012) but whereas he was selective with his saturation, Samuels and Co. are not. This leads to a film bursting with colourful imagery, a refreshing difference from the coldness often seen in modern Westerns. It’s a shame then, that the choice to add a fake film grain to the film (seemingly not present in the trailer) detracts from the otherwise beautiful cinematography on display. With regard to the action, The Harder They Fall doesn’t push any boundaries, rather it’s more content to let it’s cast approach the action work with gusto. If anything, where Samuel’s film falls flat is that it could have done more with the cast and larger than life characters they depict. Often, we’re told to believe in the legends of these characters without often seeing why or how they deserve that status. The film riffs off of the works of Leone and Tarantino but unlike their work fails at times to build up the characters as more than just archetypal tropes. That said, any weakness in the story and characterisation is overshadowed by the sheer entertaining nature of the film. It’s not often that a contemporary Western gets to be so fun, but this one sure does.
The Harder They Fall is an entertaining outing which balances its humour and heart with great performances and colourful sets. Although the story at times feels generic and the action wants for more, the film is worth the watch for the way in which it revitalises the Western and showcases it through a Black lens.
