The Magnificent Seven reminded me a lot of True Grit. Who better than Denzel Washington as Sam Chisolm to pull off the lead character as a sharp shooter and warrant officer with the monumental task of taking out an evil, greedy villain like corrupt industrialist, Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). The Magnificent Seven takes place in 1879 and focuses on a gold mining town called Rose Creek. The town, filled with regular GOD fearing folk, is overpowered by Bogue and many of the locals are slaughtered, including Matthew Cullen (Matt Bomer) who tried to stand up to Bogue. After the slaughter, Matthew’s wife, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) along with a friend, Teddy Q (Luke Grimes) leave town in search of someone who can help stop Bogue and return Rose Creek back to the people.
After listening to Emma’s story and learning of the culprit’s name, Chisolm sets out to recruit a group of gunslingers who can help him, starting with gambler Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt). They are later joined by sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), knife-wielding assassin Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), skilled tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier) and notorious Mexican outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo).
After the Magnificent Seven arrive in Rose Creek, a gunfight with Bogue’s enforcer McCann (Cam Gigandet) ensues. The Seven manage to win and sends a warning and challenges Bogue to return and fight or simply leave the town. As usual, there’s much more to this story but I’m minimizing spoilers, so I can say no more. This was a fairly good western or what my mom use to call a “shoot em up”. This remake of the 1960 version of The Magnificent Seven brings nothing new or earth shattering to the plate, but is very entertaining and well acted.
I smell Oscar nominations here. The Judge goes deep into ones soul. I loved the way it wrapped up the ending and I loved the cast. Robert Downing, Jr. plays Hank Palmer, a hot shot lawyer from Chicago who has a reputation for winning his cases. When his mother dies, Hank is summoned back home where he hasn’t been for 20 years. He’s leaving his troubled home in Chicago where he has a cheating wife and a small daughter, arriving in his home town of Carlinville, Indiana where he has 2 brothers Glen Palmer (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Dale Palmer (Jeremy Strong) and a father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) that makes up a dysfunctional family that he never speaks to. Hank expected his trip back home to be short but when his father is accused of murdering a convict he sentenced in his court years ago, Hank stays to defend him. Many paths are explored in this 2 hour and 27 minute film. So far, The Judge has proven to be a more than worthy contender among the better movies I’ve seen this year. Billy Bob Thornton plays the states attorney (Dwight Dickham) who prosecutes the judge. Dax Shepard plays C. P. Kennedy the defense co-council and Hank’s daughter, Laura Palmer (Emma Tremblay) are just a few that make an excellent cast. While visiting Carlinville, Hank discovers there are many old relationships that need closure. This film makes for a very interesting story and well worth the price of a movie ticket to see it.
CAROL's WORLDS 