Bone Tomahawk (Film Review)

2015 RLJ Entertainment
Written and Directed by: S. Craig Zahler
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Lili Simmons, Richard Jenkins, Evan Jonigkeit, Kathryn Morris, Sid Haig, David Arquette, and Fred Melamed
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 132 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10

In the late 19th Century, Arthur O'Dwyer's wife is kidnapped by a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibals, and now he, Sheriff Hunt, Sheriff's Deputy Chicory, and a trigger-happy gunman named John Brooder, are off across the wilderness of the American West to rescue her. However, there are two major obstacles standing in their way, not the least of which is that one of Arthur's legs is badly injured and possibly infected. The other is that the cannibals, known by the local historian as "The Troglodytes," are a secluded, inbred tribe that are wildly violent, physically powerful, and possibly not even human. Can the men save O'Dwyer's wife...or will they end up on the grisly menu?
Whatever one thinks of writer/director S. Craig Zahler, it's tough to argue that he doesn't have an original voice. Zahler's films all have a unique tone, plotting, and original, believable characters. He's got great actors playing his characters in 2015's Bone Tomahawk, with a wonderfully world-weary Kurt Russell as the Sheriff, Richard Jenkins as his deputy, a menacing Matthew Fox as Brooder, and the always excellent Patrick Wilson as O'Dwyer. For a 132 minute film, Bone Tomahawk flies by, briskly paced with its fun and weird reveals coming at just the right intervals. However, despite the uncompromising violence, high stakes, and likeable characters, there's a strange flippancy here that undercuts the dramatic stakes. I felt the same while watching Zahler's 2018 film, Dragged Across Concrete. The directing and staging are fine--the flippancy is almost an intangible. It takes away the film's resonance, though, and works to negate my investment. It's almost like the film isn't quite taking itself seriously, and as a result, neither can I. There's a way to wink at the audience without completely robbing the viewer of their suspension of disbelief, and Zahler hasn't quite mastered it yet (at least not on the level that Antonia Bird did in 1999s similar Ravenous). Consequently, I like Bone Tomahawk well enough, but I don't love it.