The Harder They Fall is basically fan fiction for historical figures. Almost all of the characters that appear in the first feature film from musician and music video director Jeymes “The Bullitts” Samuel, were real people -cowboys and outlaws and law officers and even a mountaineer- black folks who managed to transcend their station in a deeply racist world and make a mark on a history primed to overlook their feats (how many people who know Billy the Kid have heard of Nat Love?). However, the story told with them in this film is entirely fictitious, their backgrounds and personalities heavily fabricated, and many of these figures weren’t even contemporaries –the youngest, Jim Beckwourth played by RJ Cyler, actually died before half of his counterparts were born.
It could be argued that sticking to the history on any one of these characters would have made for an interesting movie itself, but it’s pretty clear why Samuel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boaz Yakin, decided to take the approach of an Old West Avengers of neglected black history. Not only is it the chance to inject some new blood into a classical genre with a major twist on its’ precepts, but it’s an opportunity to get together an ensemble of some of the best black talent in the industry today for essentially a Magnificent Seven-style star-studded western. And it is much like Magnificent Seven in that it’s very formulaic and not all that interesting from a plot perspective, but is mostly fun anyways because of the interplay of the various actors.
At it’s heart, it is the story of two gangs -one led by Jonathan Majors’ Nat Love, who is determined to trace down and exact vengeance on the other run by Idris Elba’s Rufus Black -who massacred Nat’s family when he was a child and scarred a cross into his forehead. It’s pretty straightforward who are the good guys and who are the bad guys then. The former are a mostly young set of charming outlaws with at least some sense of an ethical code. The latter act as more of an old guard, typically through Rufus and his number one Trudy Smith, played by Regina King -no stranger to making fictions about real-life figures. Rufus’ gang is cold and cruel, with no qualms about who or how many people they kill, whether strategically or casually. In typical western villain fashion, they’ve taken over a town called Redwood, taxing and exploiting it until the liberating heroes come along.
Samuel draws from the traditions of both the classical Hollywood and spaghetti western for his film –Nat’s backstory and his connection to Rufus certainly brings to mind a movie like Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. There’s a comparable degree of violence to the films made in that mould and a touch of stylistic choices –albeit ones that seem more lifted from Tarantino’s homages to spaghetti westerns rather than the genuine articles. But the character types and set-pieces and the plot closer resemble the old John Wayne and Gary Cooper fare of a lawman in a frontier town vs. an outlaw –only it’s two outlaws, but one is clearly worse. Nat even has on this occasion the law on his side, through Delroy Lindo’s Marshal Bass Reeves supporting him in bringing down Rufus.
However, there is still something of a personal touch in the rhythm and action of the movie that distinguishes itself from those ordinary Hollywood westerns. For one thing, it is considerably more cool, taking full advantage of its’ revisionist history in its’ character personalities and attitudes if not so much their identities. These are very modern western characters and their dynamics in relation to each other and their setting reflects a distinctly contemporary vision of the Old West. There’s disingenuousness to this and even some sanitization, but an obvious catharsis too, and most of the performers are entertaining enough that it doesn’t hurt the movie much. Certainly Majors and Zazie Beetz are having a grand old time, RJ Cyler and Edi Gathegi as well. And Lindo’s late career renaissance continues as, though underutilized, he may well be the films’ best performance.
It’s not saying a lot, given few of these characters are fleshed out much in compelling ways for their actors to work with. LaKeith Stanfield for instance gives one of his weaker performances in recent years as the most capable of Rufus’ goons. He also feels a touch wasted outside of an early train robbery scene. Danielle Deadwyler, as another of Nat’s allies, is taking the film perhaps a touch too seriously, and Elba for as intimidating as he is in moments, is rather dull in others. He sits out most of the big climax.
Rufus does have a bit more depth than the rest of the cast, though it isn’t revealed much until the end. A twist in both his and Nats’ pasts comes up during the final showdown, and it is a pretty lame and uninspired one that aches of a script trying to be cleverly ironic. It’s a pretty awful last minute development that seemingly aims to either rehabilitate Rufus a touch or vacantly condemn Nat and it really doesn’t take, much as Elba and Majors attempt to sell it. A lot of lustre from the big exciting battle that preceded it is lost, and the resolution that comes afterwards (as well as potential sequel-baiting) is hollow.
Still, some of Samuel’s choices pay off in rewarding ways –that train robbery that frees Rufus early on is a pretty good set-piece, as is a one-on-one fight between King and Beetz in a dye barn. Overall the action is shot well and with modest creativity, especially in the last act (I liked for example the POV looking down on Deadwyler as she guns down a sharpshooter’s rooftop perch); and the tone stays pretty consistent until that final reveal. The Harder They Fall was a bad title for what movie Samuel chose to make –it’s far too generic and has already been used on a couple movies before. It also implies something grittier than what the movie actually is. And that is a decently fun cowboy romp that remixes a genre just enough to be worth something. It’s not a movie that has a long shelf-life, and little difference is made by the acknowledgement that these characters are based on real people, but Jonathan Majors gets to play a gunslinger. That’s probably not something we’ll see again.
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