From indie director Kelly Reichardt comes Meek's Cutoff, a quiet but harrowing tale of three families wandering the vast Oregon desert in 1845. In need of a guide, the travelers hire abrasive outdoorsman Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to walk them through the nearly barren plains. Meek, in unkempt beard, bright red shirt and frayed jacket, visibly and verbally stands out from the conservative families as he recounts his days of hunting Indians. Few take a liking to him, but none less so than Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams). It doesn't help matters any when Meek, claiming to know a shortcut, leads the group astray and lack of water threatens their survival.
When the families encounter a lone Indian, the men pursue and capture him. Meek wants simply to kill the savage, but Emily's husband, Solomon Tetherow (Will Patton), takes a more practical approach and suggests that they get him to lead them to water. Frightened and distrustful of the Indian, the other men hesitantly agree to spare his life (for the time being) in order to save their own. Although Emily builds a sort of rapport with the captive, the others — the Gately family in particular — are very suspicious of the Indian, paranoid that instead of leading them to water, he is leading them to an ambush.
Despite the conservative and clearly patriarchal culture (women are largely excluded from the decision-making), Emily is a subtle but dynamic presence in the film. She actively attempts to get the group back on track and ultimately emerges as the strongest and most resolute member of the caravan. Additionally, she is the only one willing to stand up to Meek when he offers little help after leading them down a wandering road. Michelle Williams yet again delivers a believable performance as a woman who's strong and determined, but not overpowering.
As the tension and desperation build, the audience will undoubtedly wonder, what's next? With paranoia and distrust only mounting, one feels that something major is going to happen. It simply must. I couldn't help but wonder — hope even — that something along the lines of the Donner Party was imminent. But much like the hapless travelers it profiles, Meek's Cutoff is stuck on a long trip down a dissatisfying path.
Let me be clear: This is not an exciting movie. At all. It's also not a bad film, in that the story and the performances are compelling. But Meek's Cutoff is a slow film; so slow that it becomes a challenge to watch because it doesn't seem like anything is happening. In between the "action" are long shots of the travelers crossing the desert or getting up early to cook, etc. The first 10 minutes of the film are dialogue-free; instead of conversation, we are treated to scenes involving people doing dishes and crossing a river. Obviously, Reichardt is going for realism, and she succeeds. But reality can be a bore, and the film may be asking too much of ever-decreasing attention spans.
In the end, I can't say I enjoyed Meek's Cutoff very much — even if I did recognize its merits. The film is undeniably moving, and uses shrewd storytelling, dim lighting and quiet dialogue to create a realistic narrative of human interaction and survival. Yet I could not wait for it to be over. And it's doubtful that an average moviegoer accustomed to fast-paced, action-packed summer blockbusters is going to "get it." While the desolate landscape and the subtleties — like the incessant creak of a wagon wheel against the hollow silence of the expansive plains — aptly convey the apparent hopelessness of wagon training across the country, Meek's Cutoff eventually inspires that same hopelessness in the viewer — and that's not a good thing.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2011.