The Harder They Fall (2021)

Director: Jeymes Samuel
Writer(s): Samuel and Boaz Yakin
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beets, RJ Cyler and Edi Gathegi

The Harder They Fall opens with an act of brutal violence: A man enters the home of a family who has just sat down to dinner. He acts like he is only coming to talk, but before we know it, he is gunning down the mother and father in cold blood - right in front of the eyes of their young son, who is forced to watch it. The man then makes his way over to the kid, and instead of finishing him off, carves a cross in his forehead, before leaving just as quickly as he came. 

Flash-forward to the present day. The kid - who goes by the name Nat Love - has grown up, but he clearly hasn’t forgotten the events from a decade prior: When we first see him, he makes his way to a church, where he guns down a preacher. But we’re informed this wasn’t just some random killing: The preacher, who has clearly cleaned up his life and become a “different man”, was the one who forced Nat to watch the murder of his parents. Clearly, he is out for retribution, and while the murder of the preacher is a good start, he has his eyes set on someone much higher.

That man is Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), who clearly hasn’t changed his ways. He is the type of man where the mere mention of his name is enough to strike fear in the hearts of any who hear it; to see him is to know that you’re dead. In the beginning, he is on his way to prison, but so great is his reach that he is officially pardoned in mid-train ride. That doesn’t stop his group from gunning down the military men whose job it was to transport him to jail. 

Nat gets wind that he is out, and the rest of the film is a very slow build-up to the inevitable showdown between the good guy, and the man who murdered his parents. 

The idea behind this Netflix production is to take a look at the Wild West from the perspective of Blacks, featuring characters who share the name of actual outlaws during that time. But, aside from the racial switch that was no doubt precipitated by public outcry regarding a lack of minorities in film instead of just being the norm all along, it’s a rather disappointing, all-too-predictable effort that basically takes the formula of a “white” western, and replaces it with people of color. And it adds a hip-hop soundtrack and plenty of bad language to give it a more “woke” feel. 

It might just be me, but I feel like the recent slate of films made by Blacks, females and those in the LBGTQ+ community are more of a Hollywood PR campaign in disguise as a genuine interest in putting minorities behind the camera. The film industry has long been the target of people who felt like their voices weren’t being heard; talented minority filmmakers who weren’t given an opportunity just because they weren’t the “right” race, or the “right” gender. And what did they do? Ignore them. Sure, maybe they “tossed a couple” projects their way just to make it look like an effort - no matter how half-assed it was - but they did nothing to truly change the culture of an industry in desperate need of a change.

Until now. A time when people can collectively unite over the internet and have the power to make change. Until the voices grew so loud that they could no longer plug their ears and ignore it. Until the public demanded something be done about the archaic way Hollywood has done business, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. It’s disgusting, really, but this is the world we live in. 

And maybe I’m way off base. After all, as a white male, what right do I have to speak on behalf of those who have actually faced bias, and racism? Those who have been slighted? Those who have been turned down of opportunities simply based on the color of their skin, or their gender? None, really. 

I’m not at all slighting the people who made the film. The cast is uniformly excellent, especially Jonathan Majors as the outlaw Nat Love. While he’s mostly the cool, calm and collected Western “good guy”, who straddles the line between what’s right and wrong (and sometimes crosses over into the latter), there is a moment toward the end of the film when his emotions finally catch up to him. He’s broken down, his mask of “coolness” completely removed and replaced with a flurry of emotions that you not only clearly see on his face, but that you can feel. It’s rare for a moment of acting to send chills down my spine, but he manages it.

Idris Elba (who is made to look like a star in the trailer, but plays more of a supporting role) is also solid in another villain role as Rufus Buck. As usual, he is always relaxed even in moments of extreme stress; it actually feels kind of like a retread of his character in “The Wire”. He’s the type of villain who oozes evil, the type of person who functions as almost soundproof evidence against those who feel like “there is good in everyone”. 

Aside from the cast, though, the story is too predictable, and the 2-hour plus runtime is completely unnecessary. A couple of the action scenes are riveting, but the final gunfight - which should be the pinnacle of any western; the entire setpiece that the story is leading up to - is shockingly ho-hum. I expected something that would justify its duration, and was instead met with a disappointing finish that

It’s just a shame that, as brilliant as the cast is, not even they can overcome a derivative script that, despite its alternate viewpoint of the Wild West, feels way more familiar than it ought to.

RATING: 5.5/10