十九世纪加拿大政府把印第安土著的儿童强制抓进改造学校接受白人教育来自印第安马家族的男孩迷恋冰球并表现出众在加入职业球队后却受到歧视直到回归故乡后他才重新振作起来影片力图把原著小说承载的厚重感传达给观众对白人和土著的冲突刻画生动
内德的步枪是三部曲的最终章前两部分别是傻子亨利Henry Fool和国家密码Fay Grim为以另类眼光看美国社会的边缘提供了一个恰到好处的结尾 在这部电影中HenryThomas Jay Ryan 饰傻子亨利片中角色和FayParker Posey 饰国家密码片中角色也出现了但他们变成了一幅画像慈爱地看着他们的儿子NedNed今年十八岁最近才刚从证人保护计划中释放尽管基督教徒从他的养父一个教堂牧师手中接过他抚养但Ned还是设定了报仇的目标杀死他的父亲因为那个人毁了他母亲的生活当这个严肃又端庄的年轻人开始他的复仇之旅他很快就发现自己进入了典型的哈特利式的异端分子的团伙中……
Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley#39;s early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality though using sex for several years; obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich eg, her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude but unseen work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone quot;I#39;m a mechanicquot;, yet the symbolism is rich he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy is, in fact a virgin, and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played The scene between Josh and Jane a wonderful, young Edie Falco quot;You need a woman not a girlquot; is hilarious real But Hartley can#39;t leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue overandover becomes frustratingly quot;artyquot; and annoying until again it becomes hilarious What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film like kids in a perpetual quot;am notquot;/quot;are tooquot; argument Hartley#39;s weaves all of a small neighborhood#39;s idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the quot;unbelievable truthquot; of the title is, yet no two people can agree including our hero on what exactly that truth is A wonderful little movie with some big ideas
