Jane Got a Gun

Dir: Gavin O'Connor

2016

***

Jane Got a Gun isn't the total disaster I was led to believe it was. Okay, so it was a financial disaster for the studio and there was certainly room for improvement but it could also have been a lot worse. The western had a rather public collapse before shooting had even started and its trial by entertainment media nailed the coffin lid shut, well over a year before anyone had even seen any footage. This seems to be quite a reoccurring situation in the film world, the films in question very rarely deserving the disdain they encounter. In fact, the original script by Brian Duffield appeared on the 2011 addition of the Black List, an annual list of the most popular unproduced screenplays in circulation. It's a great script, although it is unclear which parts were rewritten by Joel Edgerton and Anthony Tambakis, previous co-writers on Gavin O'Connor's 2011 film Warrior. Lynne Ramsey, a personal favourite director of mine, was set to direct but didn't turn up for the first day of filming. It was later discovered that there had been an altercation with her and the producers and it was unclear whether there had been a breach of contract. It's no one's business but theirs in all honesty but if she wasn't paid then why wouldn't she walk, her character was unfairly tarnished in the press I thought. Gavin O'Connor was hired within 24 hours allegedly, so the film was in safe hands, but I would have loved to have seen Ramsey's version. O'Connor's direction was very good, especially considering the amount of time he had to prepare. He's a pro and I look forward to seeing more from him. The script nor the change of director are at fault for any of the film's misgivings however.  Michael Fassbender had to walk due to scheduling conflicts. Jude Law was also cast but walked when Ramsey left the project, stating that he only wanted to do the film for the opportunity to work with her. Bradley Cooper was then cast but also left due to scheduling conflicts. Cooper made American Hustle and Fassbender's first western would end up being the brilliant Slow West, so no bad thing. Joel Edgerton, who was cast from the beginning, changed characters and Ewan McGregor took over the role of the film's villain. Joel Edgerton was great, I think he made a much better hero than he would have made a bad guy, he does bad guy really well (Wish You Were Here, Black Mass), but this particular character wouldn't have suited him in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't think Ewan McGregor suited the bad guy character either. There was little to his character, not in McGregor's performance (although it could have been stronger to be fair) but in script, I don't think there was much for the actor to get his teeth into. His brother (played by Boyd Holbrook) and his collective henchmen were far more interesting and menacing characters. Noah Emmerich was okay but essentially he plays a living corpse for most of the film. The film's hero and title of the film is played by Natalie Portman who also acted as producer. She was on board from the very beginning and also the film's big problem, I'm afraid to say. Her performance is woefully unconvincing, and also rather stale. The character of Jane was full of possibilities and I feel she wasted all of them. I can think of hundreds of actors who could have done a better job than her, and I say this as someone who generally admires her and enjoys her work. Released in the same year as The Magnificent Seven remake, I can't help but see the similarity in story but while The Magnificent Seven is exciting and character driven, Jane Got Her Gun is slow and uninteresting. It could have easily been called The Mediocre 2 and a half. Great direction, a good performance from Joel Edgerton and a couple of brilliant scenes makes it a three star film in my humble opinion, but only just.