The Revenant (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Revenant (2015) – A. G. Iñárritu

Often beautiful to look at, Iñárritu’s epic period Western is also grim and somewhat relentless.  Leonardo DiCaprio is the seasoned guide to a trapping company out in North Dakota (or further west, judging by the mountains) who gets mauled by a bear and then more-or-less left for dead by the company.  Well, asshole Tom Hardy is left to look after him and his son by a Pawnee mother and that’s as good as leaving him for dead.  Shot with natural light only and without digital effects (or so they say), The Revenant looks authentic enough.  Perhaps it is just me, however, but I can’t really buy Leo in this part – he seems to be trying too hard and isn’t quite the right type for the grizzled and tough outdoorsman he plays.  That said, I think this is a problem for Leo more generally – he seems to be acting most of the time rather than really inhabiting his characters.  So, after his gruelling challenges, crawling around on his elbows in the snow for half the movie, Leo is deadset on revenge and he eventually gets it (or allows it to happen).  That’s basically the arc of the story and I don’t think it gets any deeper than that (despite some gauzy flashbacks to his life with the Pawnee which must mean something….maybe).  It’s long but I’m recommending it for the evocative experience, if nothing else – you really do feel that you are out in the wilderness back in time.