Review of Jane Got a Gun (2015) by Gordon H — 10 Mar 2017

Not just a movie about a gun-slinging, butt-kicking Portman in the Wild West!

Panic strikes Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman) when her outlaw husband returns to their 1870s New Mexico farm with bullet wounds. Expecting the worst, she delivers her young daughter to safety and travels to the home of Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton), a boozing ex-lover who may be her only hope. With Dan now on her side, Jane prepares for a showdown with the vengeful John Bishop (Ewan McGregor) and his gang of thugs. Looking to settle an old score, Bishop must now contend with the gun-toting Jane and her new partner.

'Jane Got A Gun' isn't just a movie about a gun-slinging, butt-kicking Portman in the Wild West, despite what the trailer might have you believe. As a new feminist take on the classic Western, 'Jane Got A Gun' doesn't just take on traditional Hollywood gender roles, it also takes on the daunting task of portraying a sexual assault survivor, without ever really identifying the character as such. When the audience meets Jane, she has survived being raped after being forced into prostitution, but that fact isn't revealed until well into the movie. 'Jane Got A Gun' portrays Jane as shaped by her sexual assault, but not defined by it---a fact that makes it worth watching and in the minds of everyone who sees it, well after the end credits roll.