Westerns have had a rather gritty and violent resurgence in recent years: Leo DiCaprio finally got his hands on an Oscar for The Revenant, and Tarantino’s most recent offerings Django Unchained and The Hateful 8 enjoyed success despite dishing out more blood and racist terms than most audiences are comfortable with. In Jane Got a Gun Natalie Portman leads as our titular hero who must defend her home from a group of outlaws.
Despite a strong cast, decent script and enough grit and bloodshed to rival any recent Western, it just doesn’t pay off. A choppy narrative and far too many flashbacks take the viewer out of the action. After losing its original director just three days into production this movie seems to have failed to get back on its horse. Even if you can overlook all that, you’re ultimately just bound to get that similarly titled Aerosmith song stuck in your head.
Mark Wheeler
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