Review of Jane Got a Gun (2015) by Greg C — 31 Jan 2016

Doomed on arrival in an A.D.D. world. It is slow. I mean really slow. There is an onion layer revelation of the relationship between our gun-slinger, Dan Frost, played by Joel Edgerton and our eponymous heroine, played by Natalie Portman.

And the languid effect is compounded by a sparseness of musical score leaving us with just people who do stuff and talk. Our heroes are tasked against a villain, John Bishop, portrayed by an unrecognizable Ewan McGregor.

The film looks about as good in its widescreen glory as Portman does in a fitted duster. Edgerton is a co-writer. Portman is one of the producers. It is a passion project, and for me they have pulled it off.

I am a bit puzzled at how a world that once lauded Eastwood and Freeman in Unforgiven or even Costner and Duval in Open Range can be so hostile to this slow burner. This may seem like 90 mins in service of one good line, but that good line is a bang and leaves the theater smoking with a faint hint of gun powder.