The Thicket

The Thicket-480P

The Thicket_1080P

How many great westerns have you watched & can remember the soundtrack theme ? Almost every great western uncannily has a great soundtrack... this films music is well made & from a talented composer, yet is utterly forgettable while also often intrusive & overblown. This is certainly one of the worst 'westerns' I've ever seen. (after seeing 300+ Spaghetti/Euro & many 100's of American ones) I am only reviewing it here as a warning to others who love Spaghetti/Euro Westerns (which this film is a drab imitation of), classic westerns ...& films in general ! This film is the dregs... an overload in stupidity, that could have been entertaining if it wasn't so utterly humorless & predictable. I only sat through it to test my endurance levels & grimace at the dire script, which is seemingly written by a person trapped in a world of z-grade cartoon fantasies & TV trash. The idea for this film is another RESCUE mission with a bit of bounty hunting & revenge thrown in. It has been done many hundreds of times already, and there is nothing original in this film to add to anything, despite its lesbian arch enemy played by an almost incomprehensible Juliette Lewis. I had to put sub titles on to comprehend what anyone was mumbling during this. Nothing about it is memorable apart from its incredible unbelievability, & poor filmatic choices. The Direction is bland, the characters rubbish, even Dinklage's, which had some promise at first. Compare this films to any of the Spaghetti Western 'gems' from 1964-74 (ish) . The Great Silence, California, Four of the Apocalypse, for example, which all have similarities with this film yet ultimately they are different creatures. This may all seem like a personal/subjective dismissal reliant on simply my TASTE in films, although if you consider the ridiculous events in the opening scenes my disgruntlement should be universal for discerning movie-viewers. Here are the notes I made of unbelievable stupidity in the film- 1- daft girl stands unmoving in the middle of the road, while a motorbike drives at speed straight towards her from over a distance of about half a mile. 2- the Motorbike can drive at speed on SNOW & ICE ! 3- Barge-keepers don't maintain or check their equipment. Have no weapons for defence. Have a single strand , thin rope for barge pulling. 4- Barge puller continues trying to wind the rope while a stand-off is occurring. 5-The grandfather allows a vicious gang to approach his family & tells them they will have to wait until he's used the barge . 6- Granddad pulls a gun on the gang leader who he knows has a vicious reputation.... ...then he shoots at the leader of gang while her back is turned. ...and misses from a few feet, only skimming her ear. 7- She isn't deafened by the shot. 8-He puts his gun down, then says he isn't armed while she shoots him. 9- The boy tries to stop a lynch mob... & gets knocked out. 10-Town Boss provokes a fight over $1 11- Sends gang after Dinklage over a deserved humiliation knowing how skilled Dinklage is. 12- Dinklage & mate are short of money, yet leave a horse after killing its rider. 13- The F-WORD swearing is tiresome, unimaginative & unrealistic , people never swore like that until later in the 20th C . Better curses could have been used without needing to resort to that DEADWOOD tactic of anachronistic EFFECT over FACT. 14- The stupid kidnapped girl can't fire a gun at point blank range to shoot the gang leader that killed her grand-dad & (as far as she knows) her brother. There's more, but the BROTHEL RESCUE scene is possibly the most preposterous. Looking back on it, there are so many stylish ways it could have been done by a skilled film maker & script. Instead the idiot Christian Hypocrite protagonist takes her through the main bar area & tries to walk out of the main doors !

For the press run that Peter went on to sell this thing, I was expecting more. I love Juliette Lewis (The Other Sister, From Dusk 'Till Dawn) and she basically carries the entire film. In my opinion, Peter Dinklage gives an unmemorable performance here yet shines in comparison to the rest of the somewhat unknown cast. As far as Tubi movies go, this is a decent watch. I just felt like there was something missing. As far as westerns go, this one just doesn't feel like it has a lot of grit. I remember watching an interview with Peter where he recalls one of the producers wanting a character in the film to have a "James Hetfield" look (lead singer of Metallica, for those who don't know) and Peter suggested that they just get James Hetfield to do the movie. Well, there is probably a reason why they suggested a professionally trained actor who looks like Hetfield, rather than Hetfield himself. He does an okay job, even kind of bad at times. I don't want to get political with this review, but I feel like this needs to be addressed. I understand that every movie can't be Django Unchained. I also understand that life imitates art and visa versa, and we are trying to create a better world here. But there is something inside of me that is crying out every time I watch a period piece made in modern times. It seems like Hollywood is desperately trying to rewrite history to make America's past seem way less racist and horrible than it is. This is a pretty good example of that. There is ZERO racial tension in the film, despite the fact that two out of the five characters are African American who go up against some of the frontier's nastiest outlaws. To my knowledge it isn't even mentioned and I didn't know that Reginald's (Dinklage) counterpart Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe) is an ex-slave until I read that in the film's description. No one else in the film mentions it at all. It's not a huge issue, it just feels kind of disrespectful to the people in that time who suffered the horrible atrocities of slavery. I just really don't like the white washing of American history. Sorry, rant over. Another part of this movie that I didn't enjoy is seeing Andrew Schulz in the film. I don't like this man's comedy, I don't care for his podcast, and I think that he does a middling job here. He also sports the exact same haircut and mustache that we see in modern times which feels out of place. I remember a golden age of film where truly talented actors was enough to get people to see your film. Now we're at a point where we are relying on YouTube stars to get people to watch. It makes me kind of sad honestly. I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. The cinematography is pretty good, despite the fact they use plenty of cheat codes (filming a western and using a winter backdrop, for example). I saw this for free so I guess beggar's can't be choosers, but I found this film to be average at best.

In bright but dark western "The Thicket" Levon Hawke's sis Esme Creed-Miles is taken by notorious crim Juliette Lewis (so good again) & her gang - so Hawke teams with Peter Dinklage (also great), Gbenga Akinnagbe & Leslie Grace to hunt them down across bleak snowy terrain... while they themselves are hunted by James Hetfield (yes, him) & Macon Blair. Characters, dialogue and the relatively simple plot are all well written by first-timer Chris Kelley (based on Jon R Lansdale's novel) and it's superbly directed in his trademark ethereal yet gritty style by the classy Elliott Lester (who's growing a solid reputation). Terrific fare, especially for western genre fans.

The story and plot was easy to become invested in. It has gritty, interesting, and engaging characters. The story is compelling, violent, raw, and unpredictable. The outlaws were very bad, and the good guys felt like real people. There were many very tense and exciting scenes. The scenery and settings were authentic to a turn of the century rustic western era. The character acting was flawless throughout. I also quite enjoyed the music track. Overall, this movie was well written, well made, well acted, engaging, interesting and worthwhile. I can easily recommend it, but, it's not suitable for children.

I saw Thicket, starring Peter Dinklage-Game of Thrones_tv, Death at a Funeral; Juliette Lewis-Yellowjackets_tv, From Dusk Til Dawn; Levon Hawke-The Crowded Room_tv, Blink Twice and Esme Creed_Miles-Hanna_TV, Dark River. This is a western. Levon and Esme are brother and sister that are living in Texas during the late 1800's. They are attacked by Juliette and her group and left for dead. When Juliette leaves, she takes Esme with her. When Levon wakes up, he meets Peter, a bounty hunter and joins forces to track down his sister. Everything looks pretty authentic here, as far as westerns should look-sort of like how it did in a certain big star's recent Horizon, but like that debacle, there is just something missing. It's rated R for violence, language and sexual content-no nudity-and it has a running time of 1 hour & 48 minutes. It's not one that I would buy on DVD. If you are a western fan and you really wanted to see it, I'd wait until it's on antenna tv.

Cutthroat Bill really stole the show, to deny that would be to lie. Additionally, Luna's performance was compelling as well. Not to mention Peter Dinklage basically carrying the movie on his entire back; (his acting was phenomenal during this!) I enjoyed the way the deaths were done, especially James Hetfield's death, and it was VERY satisfying when his killer was killed. I feel it wasn't too gory but still told a story. A sad one, at that. The set and costume teams did a fantastic job of setting the scene for the timeline, it really felt like a completely different decade while watching. The best part to me was making such a complex antagonist. Her muttering 'mama,' as she dies is a prime example of this. I think the movie really seals itself up at the end, and perfectly so, nonetheless. The reason I have not given this movie a 10/10 is because of Jack's acting and his haircut taking me straight out of the decade. Anytime he came on screen I was like, "oh, it's 2024." The actual best scene for me was cutthroat Bill avenging Luna's rapist. She was PISSED. I sensed there was this weird attachment between Bill and Luna. It seems, in the words of one of her men, 'she likes you the most.' She really took a liking to Luna and I think that's why she wasn't killed sooner. It's compelling to me to think about Bill's psychology, her way of thinking. It..baffles me. And I LOVE that. That's a film that gets in your head. I loved the filming location as well, the snow was a great choice.

I love Joe R Lansdale's writing and this film definitely captures the soul and spirit of his work. I may be in the minority regarding my next statement but it's how I feel: it all starts on the page. Elliott Lester did a great job with this film but it would've never existed without the written words of Joe Lansdale. It was a passion project for Peter Dinklage and oh lord did he deliver. Yes it's a Western but it's also so much more than that. Juliette Lewis gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Cut Throat Bill. You have to be ready to step into the darkness. Tarantino definitely "borrowed" elements of Lansdale's writing style. Tons of bizarre violence and a lot of deep character study, delving into the minds of outlaws. Some hilarious dialogue from the warped mind of Lansdale. Great cinematography. Watch it on the big screen.

Set against the unforgiving backdrop of the Wild West, The Thicket tells the story of a mismatched group of individuals: Reginald Jones, a bounty hunter portrayed by Peter Dinklage; his loyal sidekick Eustace, played by Gbenga Akinnagbe; Jack, who enlists their help to rescue his kidnapped sister (Levon Hawke); Lula, the sister in peril (Esme Creed-Miles); and the menacing outlaw Cut Throat Bill, brought to life by Juliette Lewis. This film evokes memories of Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti Westerns, yet it opts for a more subdued palette, emphasizing the darker aspects of its narrative and employing somber cinematographic techniques. It is only towards the conclusion that the visuals begin to brighten. The storyline is populated with nefarious characters and unstable individuals, all too willing to inflict harm on anyone displaying courage or a strong moral compass. Consequently, the innocent siblings endure their share of hardships before they learn to adapt and survive in this brutal, unforgiving environment. Their plight is compounded by the tragic loss of their parents to smallpox and the murder of their grandfather (Guy Sprung) by Bill, which sets off this harrowing journey. In summary, this film is likely to captivate those in search of a chilling, action-packed thriller that embraces its brutality and mercilessness with a haunting, macabre flair. Enjoy!