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THE THICKET (2024)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
There’s a lot to like about this new Western, especially the winter landscapes, the sets, and Peter Dinklage is quite good.
Unfortunately, the film also has a lot working against it. There are entire scenes that play as either flat or misguided, such as the brothel sequence or the moment with the preacher and his burned down church. There are far too many characters, for instance the prostitute who serves no purpose in the story. She (and her hair) are a distraction from the main narrative. There are other characters, like the ones played by Macon Blair and James Hetfield, who don’t get enough attention. I kept waiting for Blair to have his moment and it never came. And then there’s Juliette Lewis… I admire her effort to create a completely different character than we’ve seen her play before but it never quite works. Perhaps that’s the script’s fault, which should have explored her Bill with more depth. This would have been a better movie if it was a simpler one.
Watched on Tubi.
