Review of Meek's Cutoff (2011) by Dave C — 23 Dec 2011

Ugh, what a letdown this was. I suppose if the objective was to accurately simulate what it's like to be lost in the middle of nowhere in a covered wagon in the ol' west, then hats off to director Kelly Reichardt for making Meek's Cutoff one of the most arduous uphill climbs I've ever experienced while sitting down and staring at a screen.

I compare this to Tree of Life, another equally self-indulgent snail-pacer of a film. Both of these are absolutely gorgeous and meticulously well-crafted, but neither of them really offer anything new to say after the first 5-10 minutes. I instantly got sucked into the mood of Meek's Cutoff within the first three shots alone. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all it offered for the next 100 or so minutes. Thankfully this film is a good deal shorter than Tree of Life, but it crawls by at an alarmingly slower rate.

This is a ridiculously challenging film to sit through, and I'm not too ashamed to say I failed miserably at doing so. Its pace is deliberate but wholly unappealing to me. How other people could shower so much praise on this is understandable I guess, since it's not a poorly-made film by any stretch. But man, this is just not my thing. It's a bad sign when I was in and out of a sleepy state for 60% of the film (starting 10 minutes in and ending about 10 minutes from the end), but felt confident that I missed absolutely nothing of importance. About a grand total of three actual things happen here, and apart from that, virtually nothing else happens in its entire runtime, and the abrupt ending didn't help sway my opinion of it any, nor did it offer any insight that wasn't offered in the opening shots of the film.

I guess like Tree of Life, this is one that should be experienced, not watched. Calling it a slow-burn would be an insult to wicks and fire, since nothing really occurs. It's as still, lifeless, and treacherous as the desert itself.