The Proposition

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The Proposition

Starring: Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Richard Wilson

Directed by: John Hilcoat
Written by: Nick Cave

Rating: xRx
Length: 1 hour 44 minutes
Genre: Western
Release Date: 2006

Australian western set in 1880s starring Guy Pearce as a bad guy who is captured along with his younger brother. The law guy offers him a proposition to save his younger brother’s life by killing his older brother still out on the loose who the law guy believes is the mastermind behind the brothers.

The three brothers in the movie are supposed to be violent and hated by everyone. Their past actions are hinted at for half the movie, mostly due to the men not wanting to say anything horrible in front of the woman, the sheriff’s wife. The sheriff and his wife are amusing since they are British living in the Australian desert, but not really trying to fit in with the desert. Their house with the white picket fence sticks out in the expansive empty desert. They wear heavy Victorian clothing and must be sweltering from the heat at all times.

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In the time between learning that the brothers are heinous criminals and finding out what they actually did, we are introduced to the middle and youngest brother. Guy Pearce is the middle brother who has split from his older brother for being a little too crazy and violent. He takes care of the youngest brother who seems to be a tad slow, and along for the ride of whatever either brother is doing, not really understand the consequences of his actions.

When it is revealed what the brothers did, it isn’t clear if it was just the older brother, and that’s why the other two fled, or if they were all in on it. The crimes they are accused of is never shown and it is only explained by the police so they might not know all the details. They just blame all the brothers for the act. The police set up a deal with the middle brother when they catch him and his younger brother hiding out somewhere. They are keeping the youngest captive and will kill him for all their actions if he does not deliver his oldest brother to them by a certain date. The police can’t find the oldest brother anywhere since he is wily and working with the aborigines out in the desert. The stupid white men aren’t friends with the aborigines and keep some of them as almost slaves. Throughout the movie are the overtones of the British colonizing Australia, trying to run out the aborigines, and trying not to fit in with the climate or people of the land.

The movie had an intriguing set up and beautiful scenery. A great amount of time is spent checking out the scenery since there are many scenes where there isn’t much talking, while looking out at the Australian outback. The movie moves along at such a languid pace that I had to resist the urge to nap in between anything happening. I also expected the oldest brother to be charismatic, giving some reason why the younger brothers would follow him into violence and help keep him free, yet he wasn’t even interesting, let alone charming.

Towards the end, there is a glimpse of what might have actually happened during the original crime, and the older brother really committed the violence while dragging the youngest into it too, but at that point I was so bored, I couldn’t wait for the movie to end. I was very disappointed.

Rating: C-

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