James R | On 29, Aug 2016

Director: Gavin O’Connor
Cast: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton
Certificate:
Watch Jane Got a Gun online in the UK: Netflix UK / Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Google Play

In 2011, Gavin O’Connor gave the world Warrior, an MMA drama starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton that had such blistering turns from its cast that it rose above sporting cliches to pack a powerful punch. Now, the director takes on another genre – the Western – and extracts yet another impressive clutch of performance. The end result is satisfying, but lacks the same clout.

We begin in the 1870s, when Noah Emmerich’s Ham returns to his little house on the prairie with a wife – Jane (Portman) – waiting for him and a bullet in his back. The message that comes with his death is simple: The Bishop Boys are coming. And so, Jane goes into Home Alone mode and starts preparing the house for an onslaught. Her secret weapon? Dan (Edgerton), her former fiance turned reclusive town drunkard, after he returned from the war and found her making a new life with Ham – she thought he was dead, he thinks she abandoned him.

Portman is wonderfully steely as Jane, with her black shirt and hat adding to the kick-ass vibe, while Edgerton, who had a hand in the script, is as chameleonic as ever – in the last few years, he has proven himself one of the most underrated character actors out there, able to slip into any shoes. He’s given a run for his money, though, by an unrecognisable Ewan McGregor, who delivers a superb turn as the villain, John Bishop, complete with spot-on accent and spiffing moustache.

The cast give impressive weight to what are effectively stock characters, something that O’Connor is a dab hand at. But his efficiency is also the film’s weakness; the project was initially meant to be helmed by Lynne Ramsay, who you imagine would have put a striking personal stamp on it. But the production had a number of problems in its early days, with original star Michael Fassbender dropping out and Edgerton shifting from the villain to the anti-hero role (chamelonic is an understatement), to be replaced by Jude Law – only for Ramsay to depart too, taking Law with her and leaving O’Connor and McGregor to sign on.

The director stages a bravura final shootout, which takes place in the low levels of night rather than high noon, but the rest is all mildly underwhelming, formulaic entertainment, weighed down by a flashback-heavy structure. With fewer Westerns around these days, though, this is an undemanding, competent companion piece to the similarly solid The Salvation, starring Mads Mikkelsen. While neither will set the world alight, both would make for a fun genre double-bill. Portman, Edgerton and McGregor in hats? What’s not to like?

Jane Got a Gun is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

 

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