Wri/Dir: Joel Souza | Cast: Alec Baldwin, Patrick Scott McDermott, Travis Fimmel Frances Fisher, Jake Busey, Josh Hopkins. | US 139’
There’s a morbid fascination to see this Kansas-set neo Western that turned into a terrible tragedy three years ago when the cinematographer was accidentally killed by the main star of the feature that feels loosely like The Good the Bad and the Ugly with its three cornered storyline.
In 1880s Wyoming, recently orphaned Lucas Hollister (McDermott) accidentally kills a rancher while chasing wolves, and is sentenced to hang. In a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust (Baldwin), escapes from prison and flees with Lucas across hostile terrain towards the Mexica border. The two must avoid capture by U.S. Marshal Wood Helm and a ruthless bounty hunter named Preacher.
The film serves as an impressive tribute to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and she did a fabulous job, sadly her last. But the film itself, despite its glorious widescreen landscapes, is like the terrain itself, unremittingly dour in tone, and overlong.
Screening recently at Warsaw’s Camerimage competition on the specific request of Hutchins’ widower and her teenage son, the feature went home empty-handed for all concerned. Ironically the boy in the film is also an orphan, and AlecBaldwin is visibly shaken by his real life experience (he discharged a loaded gun handed to him by the arms handler and was later cleared of manslaughter).
Apart from its staggering visuals and sturdy plot-line Rust will have a difficult journey forward as a work of art doomed by circumstance. @MeredithTaylor
Rust is available on Digital Platforms 23 Juneand DVD & Blu-ray 7 July