The Harder They Fall
An outlaw seeks revenge against the gunslinger who killed his parents in The Harder They Fall. Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) is the leader of a gang that includes Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi), Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler), and his ex-love Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz). Nat learns that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), who murdered Nat’s parents when he was ten, has been pardoned and released from a prison train by his gang that includes “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield). Forming an alliance with Marshall Bass Reeves (Delroy Lindo), Nat travels to Rufus’ stronghold of Redwood City to dispatch his enemy once and for all.
The Harder They Fall is an all-black Western co-written and directed by Jeymes Samuel, featuring an all-star cast that includes Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country), LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), and of course Idris Elba. The film, which has rapper Jay-Z as a producer, provides an alternate view of the Old West, where African Americans are cowboys and gunslingers, instead of the subservient individuals traditionally depicted in Hollywood Westerns.
At the start of The Harder They Fall, there is a disclaimer stating that even though the story of the film is fictional, “These. People. Existed.” Indeed, Jeymes Samuel did research in the true history of the Old West, where one-third of all cowboys were black, many of them being former slaves seeking a better life. This forms the backbone of The Harder They Fall, where the only white characters are depicted as foils for the black gunslingers, particularly a played-for-laughs bank robbery in Maysville (it’s a white town).
As a Western, The Harder They Fall is actually a quite solid film, though it doesn’t really skimp on the violence, with the film’s shootouts resulting in much bloodshed. Despite the Old West setting, The Harder They Fall features a quite anachronistic soundtrack, likely taking its queues from Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained, which features hip-hop, R&B, and even Reggae. Part of me wished that The Harder They Fall actually had a more traditional Western soundtrack since I did find the modern music to be a bit of a distraction.
However, despite my few issues, I still thought that The Harder They Fall is still a decent Western that doesn’t really try to deviate too much from the rules of the genre, other than the race of the character. While an all-black Western may sound like a gimmick to some, The Harder They Fall tries its hardest to show that this isn’t the case.
The Harder They Fall is now playing in select theatres and will be available on Netflix, Wednesday November 3, 2021.
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Trailer for The Harder They Fall
