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User Reviews for: The Harder They Fall

JC230
3/10  2 years ago
Slick style and a cast brimming with charisma aren't enough to save this film from the hollowness at its core. It doesn't purport to be a true story, but it does say these characters were real people. Why, then, have Lakeith Stanfield play an Afro-Native? Why slim down and lighten up Stagecoach Mary? Why do nothing to actually represent these people? Is it true to Cherokee Bill's story to have a non-Native speak of the Great Spirit and drop some Cherokee as a token? Is it honoring Stagecoach Mary's story if to be the badass love interest of this story she must be rendered unrecognizable? This only exposes further questions. Why use these people at all instead of original characters?

Perhaps it's how thinly these characters are drawn. Buck goes from a plan to keep his town intact to it being just a revenge plot all along. Trudy Smith believes in what he's doing, but it's hardly explained. Reeves is just a super sheriff. And Cuffee is the source of transphobic gay panic jokes. Samuel said in an interview he wanted this to be the Avengers, and like the MCU, this film hopes to coast on the charm of its stars and the past and lore of the characters. You should care about Bill Pickett cause he broke down boundaries in rodeo. You should care about Beckweourth because of his work with the Crow. None of that will be here. You should care about them by their name alone. It lends a certain crassness to the proceedings, the director and cast using real people like action figures.

It's a shadow the film can't escape from. It wants to be daring and bold, to tell black stories so often neglected or ignored. But it misrepresents them in the process, resulting in something that is less tribute and more exploitation. The hardest fall is the film's own.
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jmg999
7/10  2 years ago
This was definitely a western for a modern-day audience, and while the story and dialogue lacked in certain parts, the acting was stellar. Overall, this was a tremendous cast of exceptionally talented actors, and I have to state, the three female leads, Danielle Deadwyler, Regina King, and Zazie Beetz really stood out, as wonderful as the rest of the acting was. Ms. Deadwyler's performance was remarkable, and I'm going to now watch her filmography b/c of how impressive she was in this role. She nailed her character to a tee!

Edi Gathegi was also right on point in his role, and as I watched this, I couldn't help but think how underrated Delroy Lindo is as an actor. He has been so good for so long in so many roles, and he really deserves much more credit than he actually receives.

Overall, while the story could have been written for more dramatic effect, rather than the blood and guts style of Quentin Tarantino, and the dialogue could have stood a few revisions, the cast really saved this film. I believe that if this film had been written as more of a drama, rather than an action film, it would've received rave reviews.
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Lamba94
CONTAINS SPOILERS4/10  2 years ago
Unable to decide whether to take itself seriously or not until the final clash with the villain, it ends up being simply a bad movie. Silly characters make silly choices just to kick the plot further adding a lot of unnecessary scenes for a movie that should have been a good 30 minutes shorter at least. Unfortunately, it also decides to build-up some drama for these characters, that in a world where everything looks like it is build just to laugh about it ("Maysville, a white town" is the most fitting example) is a schizophrenic choice that would have necessitated another entire movie to make sense (the absence of a background that motivates at least the main characters besides the protagonist is enough for this point but as another example I add [spoiler] the totally unexplained importance of Redwood as a "new dawn for people in the West" where "the West" simply doesn't exist, being unexplored all the relationships of this town with the rest of the world that doesn't worry about a town of all-black people and simply coexist with it [/spoiler] ) and that destroys the initial intent of doing a black-parody of western movies and its clichés ( [spoiler] the fight in the town's main alley at open sun with the superhuman-like protagonists is a parody of western movies but it is wasted by the previous decision of Mary to enter the town alone to inform the rest of the gang about its forces: a build-up of drama that ends up being silly, revealing itself for being an excuse to justify the subsequent robbery at Maysville and the tension of them entering Redwood [/spoiler] -> kicking the plot further. [spoiler] Or another example, the duels between Cherokee and Jim and Cuffee are of opposite tones, the first one being a good parody of western quick-draw duels clichés and the second one being an overly dramatic scene with epic music investing the Cherokee's death of an incomprehensible importance, instead looking very pathetic [/spoiler] ). Finally during the final fight with Rufus the movie decides to definitely turn for being a dramatic one, completely forgetting all the previous ridiculous things that have happened and have been said, so that at this point the revelation about Nat and its nemesis feels very soap opera style, lacking all of the believability it needs. The movie ends and you have laughed for all the wrong reasons or you have been bored to death.
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Reply by tgrbabydoll
2 years ago
It's funny how you picked this apart but almost every cowboy movie you ever watched followed the EXACT SAME stuff you complain about here. <br /> <br /> So is it really a bad movie or are you letting your inner racist get the better of you? After all in every movie, especially cowboy movies, they always used to make it darker, set, lighting, etc, whenever representing any people of color.... so really the white washed town is pretty hilarious. Just makes you sound like a racist cry baby.
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AstroNoud
/10  2 years ago
What starts as a slow movie ends in an exciting shootout; all beautifully shot and with a great cast.

7/10
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