Jane Got a Gun stars Natalie Portman, is ninety-eight minutes, and starts in New Mexico Territory 1871 then unfolds in a series of flashbacks to explain why she has a gun. I wanted to see the movie because I wanted to see what Jane would do after she got the gun. It takes eighty-five minutes to find out, and while it is emotionally gratifying, it did not quite fulfill my woman kicking ass vitamin deficiency, which to be fair, was not the point of the movie, but can’t we multitask. It is not called Jane Was Once Young and Idealistic then Life So She Has A Gun.
Jane Got a Gun is one of those movie contrivances where the writer knows that a pair will love each other no matter what, but they have to go through some epic crap and find each other at the other side while not losing the audience’s favor by still conducting themselves honorably. You have to earn that happy ending. It does not take many flashbacks to figure out what is happening, but in spite of its predictability, I actually had feelings so while it may not be a good movie, it is not a bad one. I still hate this narrative device and am not signing a waiver. Jane, don’t settle. A majority of the plot for Jane Got a Gun felt anachronistic, and not in a fun way like Xena: The Warrior Princess.
I did not find out until after watching it that the film was plagued with production issues. The original director, Lynne Ramsay, who directed We Need To Talk About Kevin, was supposed to direct this film so there is a good movie in there somewhere. Then various actors were cast and lost because of the resulting time delay. I don’t think that the movie ever recovered and found a solid vision, which explains why just when I was about to write it off as trash, it would loop around and capture my attention. Jane Got a Gun examines how life changes people, but also if one can stubbornly survive in the face of horror, something beautiful can arise from the ashes.
After Portman, who holds this movie together from sheer force of will, the most convincing actor who made me buy this flimsy tale of trite malarkey was Noah Emmerich. He isn’t given much screen time, but I bought his character’s story arc completely, and the way that Portman responds to him made their storyline plausible instead of ridiculous. Joel Edgerton’s storyline was weak, and while he is a consistent actor, he is not a starring one so I was still giving him side eye by the end of the movie particularly given his lame excuses and how aggrieved he was. Ewan McGregor is unrecognizable and does not get a lot of screen time. He plays the Southern guy with jet black hair so you know that he is evil (remember, Jane Got a Gun takes place soon after the Civil War so it is a fair characterization). He put in a disproportionate amount of work for a movie that didn’t need it. The bad guys are so obviously evil that I don’t know how they tricked people, which is the whole point of their operation. My dude, you even have a black mustache that given a bit of work, you could twirl in an evil fashion. No, I’m good. I’ll use a different business.
Do you know why I would make an awful henchman? Are you getting paid enough for this mess? Why are you so invested? As I was watching Jane Got a Gun, I was thinking, “You have a prosperous business in a burgeoning town. It is not worth the trouble. BPL rule! Let it go!” None of this seems worth it to me, especially since they were actively avoiding you, and not looking for revenge. You’re evil. Who cares about principles? Be flexible. This toxic masculinity will get you killed.
Jane Got a Gun is not a must see film unless you are a fan of the cast. It is a lukewarm film that never finds its rhythm and seems torn between going for its Western shoot ‘em up impulses and embodying an American historical romance epic, which means that it is more dour than fun despite its insouciant title.