Overshadowed by publicity surrounding the film debut of Jewel, "Ride With The Devil" quickly flopped at the box office last year, leaving Ang Lee's very good Civil War drama unknown to many. Lee, acclaimed director of "Sense And Sensibility" and "The Ice Storm, scores a winner in yet another genre with this story of a group of southern renegades battling union soldiers.
The first hour of the film sets the world of these bushwackers as they seize several towns in bloody shoot-outs with federal soldiers. We also learn the men are not fighting for the continuation of slavery, but the preservation of Southern society as is. The film is at its best as it focuses on the personal lives of Jake (Tobey Maguire), Jack Bull (Skeet Ulrich), and Holt (Jeffrey Wright), the two whites and a black scout guarding a pro-south family in Missouri. Jewel is the widowed daughter-in-law of this family and immediately takes a liking to Jack Bull.
After the family flees for Texas, the men drop Jewel and bounce back and forth between traveling solo and with the bushwackers. The film always travels parallel to the war with some symbolic references made between the bushwackers' battles and the Civil War. Lee makes a strong statement for the cause of these men in the name of fighting until the death for what you believe in, but it will be difficult for most to empathize with those basically battling for the South.
It is a sincere shame that what should have been independent star Jeffrey Wright's coming-out party was crashed by the craziness surrounding Jewel's debut. Wright is outstanding with both Jewel and Maguire providing adequate support.
The biggest reason for the film's success, however, is Lee's delicate direction. He sets very well another era unfamiliar to movie-goers and paces the film very well (the 2:19 never seem arduous). "Ride With The Devil" gets a 7.
The first hour of the film sets the world of these bushwackers as they seize several towns in bloody shoot-outs with federal soldiers. We also learn the men are not fighting for the continuation of slavery, but the preservation of Southern society as is. The film is at its best as it focuses on the personal lives of Jake (Tobey Maguire), Jack Bull (Skeet Ulrich), and Holt (Jeffrey Wright), the two whites and a black scout guarding a pro-south family in Missouri. Jewel is the widowed daughter-in-law of this family and immediately takes a liking to Jack Bull.
After the family flees for Texas, the men drop Jewel and bounce back and forth between traveling solo and with the bushwackers. The film always travels parallel to the war with some symbolic references made between the bushwackers' battles and the Civil War. Lee makes a strong statement for the cause of these men in the name of fighting until the death for what you believe in, but it will be difficult for most to empathize with those basically battling for the South.
It is a sincere shame that what should have been independent star Jeffrey Wright's coming-out party was crashed by the craziness surrounding Jewel's debut. Wright is outstanding with both Jewel and Maguire providing adequate support.
The biggest reason for the film's success, however, is Lee's delicate direction. He sets very well another era unfamiliar to movie-goers and paces the film very well (the 2:19 never seem arduous). "Ride With The Devil" gets a 7.