Rust
review by Bobby Blakey
Some films get the wrong kind of attention even before their release. In the case of Rust that sad onset death of Halyna Hutchins and injury of director Joel Souza the filming was rightfully shut down and numerous charges brought to various people including star Alec Baldwin. After the trial was complete, they finally got back to work and completed the film with Baldwin back to work. The film co-stars Josh Hopkins, Travis Fimmel, Patrick Scott McDermott, Rhys Coiro, Xander Berkley, Jake Busey, and Francis Fisher. Is there more to this film than just the bad press and lost life or will it have a story worth still seeing?
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Rust follows an orphaned boy of 13 left to fend for himself and his younger brother in 1880s Wyoming who is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher. His estranged grandfather breaks him out of jail, and they go on the run to Mexico.
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No matter whether this film should have resumed filming or even finished, I am going to try and put those feelings aside and just review the film as is like any other. I personally think that it is only fair to those that worked on it and to the memory of Hutchins’ final work.
It’s not just because it’s her final work, but her cinematography is the highlight of this film. I know it could seem pandering due to the circumstances, but it really makes the film bigger than it might have been otherwise. It brings a classic western look and tone with a hint of modern flair. As you make your way through this tale the backgrounds become characters all their own and make the film feel more epic despite it being pretty generic on the story front.
The story itself works for what they are going for, but it never really offers anything up that stands out. There is never a moment where it pulled me in
to really care overall about the journey and dangers they are facing. Most of the performances are fine with Baldwin bringing a good gruff gunslinger that is one of the better parts of the film, but it’s Fimmel’s smaller part that steals every scene he is in. Sadly, he is underused, and the film could have used more interaction with him to make the film stand out more.
This isn’t a bad movie but feels kind of generic in the overall finished product. It’s hard to say how much is the tragedy behind it or if this film would have just gotten lost into the sea of other straight to video westerns because it doesn’t bring all that much to the table. There are some decent gun fights even though they seem to miss a lot whether there is cover or not, but I can ignore that at times.
Decide for yourself and check out Rust available now on Blu-ray.