This history of Black cowboys in cinema is the epitome of an ink spot in a sea of milk. Those ink spots become almost nonexistent when you eliminate the Black cowboys who served as either supporting cast or comic relief.
Jeymes Samuel aims to change that narrative and use real-life Black characters from that period to do so with The Harder They Fall. In his introduction to feature films, Samuel writes (with Boaz Yakin) and directs a story about outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and the Nat Love gang preparing to faceoff against the newly released Rufus Buck and his band of unsavory associates.
Other than D’Jango and Posse’s Jessie Lee, Black people haven’t been taken seriously as leads in the Wild West since Fred Williamson hit the screen in 1975’s Boss N****r. Does Samuel’s ambitious debut lay the groundwork for a new, more inclusive day for the Western genre? He doesn’t bring anything innovative to the table, but Samuel gets enough right to make it easier to move the genre forward.
Identical to the approach taken with his 2013 Tidal exclusive short, They Die By Dawn, Samuel primarily utilizes an incredible cast and solid dialogue to tell a tried and true Western revenge story. He even uses a few of the same characters from the short for the feature film.
The cast is the movie’s hallmark, and Majors leads that. His portrayal of Nat Love isn’t too far from how he played his Tic (Atticus) character from Lovecraft Country as both men are flawed, but he plays this character with a more pronounced charisma that further shows he’s a bonafide star.
Not to be outdone, Elba arguably gives his best turn as a villain since his days as Stringer Bell. His attempts at a Southern drawl are still laughably bad, but his menacing presence erases any temptation to chuckle. LaKeith Stanfield and Regina King are equally as impressive in their villainous roles as well. Even Deon Cole is outstanding in his limited screentime as a corrupt sheriff with earlier ties to Rufus Buck.
The technical components are A-1 as well. There is evident Tarantino influence with the zooms, tight shots, and gore, but the film separates itself from those influences with a single choice that pays incredible dividends – the lighting and color. Where Tarantino and others opted for the more traditional brown tints, cinematographer Mihai Malaimare chose more glowing, lifelike colors. That twist has a stunning effect on every shot and gives The Harder They Fall the most stylized look of any modern Western in recent memory.
With so much going right, this feels less like the work of a first-time feature filmmaker and more like a seasoned auter crafting a film for the ages.
However, it’s not all good news for Samuel and Co. Despite its strong points, there are aspects of the film that hinder The Harder They Fall from being the new classic it possessed the tools to be considered.
The most glaring issue for the film is its lack of character development. Samuel and Yakin’s script gives the viewer little to work with about why Nat Love and his gang are revered. While there are mentions of their exploits and some steps toward giving Nat more background late in the film, there aren’t any scenes that bring the lore to life. The lack of focus in that area almost causes the mystique of the Nat Love gang to come undone faster than Fly Guy’s aquarium platform shoes.
Another problematic aspect is the handling of Stagecoach Mary. The most evident flaw is the colorism issue presented by Beetz’s casting as the trailblazer. The fact that an actress with a closer resemblance to Mary wasn’t selected for the part adds to Hollywood's age-old avoidance of casting darker-complected women of color, regardless if it’s a complete deviation from the appearance of a real-life figure.
That issue also plays into how the character is written. This iteration of Mary is the polar opposite of the real-life Stagecoach Mary. She reflects Eurocentric standards of beauty and femininity while serving as Nat Love’s love interest and the film’s leading lady with a dash of damsel in distress. Deliberate or not, it aligns with the view that lighter-skinned, “ more feminine” women are better for leading lady and love interest roles. Yes, this is a fictional story, but changing a historical figure who is a woman of color to that degree while keeping her name sends a real and painful message of erasure that contradicts the overarching embracing of Blackness the movie establishes by making a point to state “these people existed.”
The Harder They Fall is ultimately the critical jolt both Hollywood and our community needed in the Western genre. It doesn’t offer anything groundbreaking or innovative from the narrative because it uses the same formula as every other western in that sense. The film’s strength lies in the fresh looks aesthetically and culturally that people of color bring to a genre that practically never recognizes but sorely needs them.
There were mistakes made, especially with Stagecoach Mary, but the overall intent makes them more like teachable moments than errors that sabotage the entire film. With that said, you should clear your schedule for this one.
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