The screenplay for the new western Jane Got a Gun, initially written by Brian Duffield, was featured in the 2011 list of the “most liked” unmade scripts of the year. But when it came to being made it ran into all sorts of problems, with the initial director and cinematographer quitting. It was eventually completed in 2013, but has waited until now for a release.
I can’t say that any of those problems were evident on-screen but it really lacks any sort of spark. Natalie Portman is Jane, a young woman who, believing her fiancée, Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton) has been killed in the civil war, marries another man Bill Hammond (Noah Emmerich), an outlaw who is trying to change his ways. By the time Dan finds them she has had a child with Bill and they are hiding from his old gang, the Bishop Boys. When Bill returns home one day and is seriously injured it is clear that the Bishop Boys, lead by Ewen McGregor, are closing-in and Jane has to turn to Dan for protection.
The set-up is a classic one, with the heroes holed up in a place where they will become besieged by bad guys – think Rio Bravo or Assault on Precinct 13. It is a pity then, this is pretty pedestrian stuff. It takes far too long to reach the climatic shoot out, and there are far too many flashbacks filling-in the back story that could have been done in a much more economical way. When the action does get underway, it is over far too quickly and lacks clarity, a problem not helped by setting it at night.
McGregor’s part is really underwritten, and though Portman is fine, it is Edgerton once again who takes the acting honours in a supporting role.
Rating: 5 out of 10