The Harder They Fall (Netflix) Movie Review

"This ain't gonna' end well for you."

by Casimir Harlow

Jeymes "The Bullitts" Samuel's directorial debut blasts onto the screen with a great ensemble cast, a fabulously energetic style and a delicious lyrical prowess, and also all the trappings of being associated with Netflix.

Whilst it would be easy to look to Tarantino's Django: Unchained as a forebear to this electric new Western, actually it feels like it has more in common with both the original Spaghetti Westerns Tarantino was himself paying tribute to, and to the underrated 1993 Mario Van Peebles flick, Posse, a distinctly style-over-substance sophomore effort from Peebles, who clearly had a blast both in front of and behind the camera. Here, Jeymes Samuel makes his debut, in true music video style, clearly gifted an utter indulgence of a runtime presumably partly due to a Netflix distribution deal, squandering slightly his chance to make something sharp and memorable in favour of more of a languid statement of the production, peppered with brazen OTT style and some great scoring choices, but taking the best part of two hours to actually get anywhere, then fizzles out to a contrived anticlimax that threatens to sap some satisfaction from the final beats.

... peppered with brazen OTT style and some great scoring choices, but taking the best part of two hours to actually get anywhere

Nat Love is a different kind of outlaw, having been literally scarred by a childhood encounter with the vicious Rufus Buck - who killed his parents - and setting his sights on Buck once more when he finds that the notorious criminal is back on the streets once again. Forming a posse of unlikely bedfellows, he heads to a final showdown with Buck with nothing but death on his mind.

The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall enjoys a welcome 4K presentation on Netflix (no sign of Dolby Vision though, perhaps because it was not technically a "Netflix Production"), which runs a little hot and oversaturated - even the blood is far too red - but probably works palming that off as the intended style, wielding a thunderous Dolby Atmos track that's amidst the better ones from any Netflix releases of late, showing not only some welcome range and discrete dissemination right from the outset, but also a hefty showing of LFE input lending weight to every booming gunshot. (EDIT - It should be noted that the day after release, The Harder They Found could be found in 4K Dolby Vision, and looked a whole lot better for it, with fewer of the oversaturation issues seen before)

Probably much like Peebles' Posse, this one is going to vastly divide audiences, with the majority possibly landing on the 'couldn't make it to the end' side, citing - quite accurately - a preponderance of overstylisation and complete lack of narrative traction. It's all true. The Harder They Fall frequently goes nowhere, and finds a way of getting there in the most convoluted, lackadaisical fashion. Its premise is fine - familiar, but fine nonetheless - with the revenge plot setup from the opening flashback, but wow does it waste time getting anywhere. In parts, this works superbly, whether in the tense sequence which sees Buck freed, or the early ambush by the Nat Love gang, but there's the best part of an hour of wheel-spinning here, robbing the film of any kind of momentum, and there's only so much a fabulously wild soundtrack and heavy stylisation can do to cover that up.

... just another watchable-but-in-need-of-an-editor Netflix movie

The cast are game, which is a huge bonus, with the likes of Idris Elba and Watchmen's Regina King leading the villains, whilst Lovecraft Country's Jonathan Majors and Joker's Zazie Beetz rallying against them. Ironically, they're not the standouts. Sure, Elba's hard to fault, and King has presence, but Majors deserves better than this and Beetz is dangerously close to being miscast, suffering from a distinct lack of chemistry opposite Majors and also a terrible script attached to her character. Indeed, the most memorable contributions come in support, whether it's LaKeith Stanfield's (Uncut Gems, Judas and the Black Messiah) laid-back but deadly quick-draw, Delroy Lindo as a veteran lawman out-cooling everybody else on screen, or Danielle Deadwyler, who is absolutely superb and on scene-stealing form throughout, particularly when she's forced to put on a dress.

So the cast, the music, the style - however OTT - all carry The Harder They Fall a long way. For some, all the way to a largely (but, as aforementioned, not completely) satisfying shootout climax which is long overdue but excellently executed. Had it come an hour earlier, this might have been a taut, punchy and not too style-over-substance affair, with enjoyed its ensemble cast but didn't threaten to let any one of them outstay their welcome. It's a frivolously fun enough diversion, if you have 2+ hours to kill, but it ain't no Django, and it isn't even a Posse really. It's just another electrically cast, watchable-but-in-need-of-an-editor, Netflix movie.

The Harder They Fall is in UK Cinemas now and on Netflix in 4K with Dolby Atmos from November 3rd 2021.

Scores

Verdict

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