Movies News Talk
The Harder They Fall, Netflix's 2021 Western, chronicles Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) who gathers his gang to get revenge on Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), his adversary, following his release from prison. Directed by Jeymes Samuel, the film features stars including Zazie Beetz, Idris Elba, LaKieth Stanfield, Regina King, RJ Cyler, Edi Gathegi, Chase Dillon, DeWanda Wise, Danielle Deadwyler, Torrey B. Lawrence, Damon Wayans J., Julio Cesar Cedillo, and Manny Rubio.
The Harder They Fall has drawn criticism, meanwhile, for its historical authenticity. Old West historian Michael Grauer rated the movie a nasty 3 out of 10 accuracy level. Grauer especially attacked a scenario on a prison train featuring Cherokee Bill. Grauer claims the U.S. Army hardly ever intervened in legal conflicts, let alone prisoner transportation. He also noted that the movie shows a specially created prisoner train—historically false. Grauer contends that, usually by wagon rather than train, federal marshals—not the U.S. Army—were in charge of moving inmates.
Grauer added that among others, infamous robbers Rufus Buck and Cherokee Bill fled to Indian country. He says that in the 1830s and 1840s, relocated Eastern and southeastern United States residents brought enslaved individuals with them. This produced a varied population including mixed-race people with Native American and African American roots. Federal and tribal lawmen, not only on the U.S. Army as shown in the movie, were in charge of tracking down and capturing these outlaws.
Grauer's evaluation of The Harder They Fall as a "complete fantasy" is quite different from the favorable reception the movie got upon its premiere. Critics praised the film's current vitality, great ensemble cast, and injection of anachronistic tunes including reggae sounds. A.O. Scott of the New York Times noted Samuel's "formidable cast" while IndieWire called the movie's "modern energy" refreshing. The Harder They Fall was comparatively underappreciated and did not win any big prizes despite considerable critical praise.
The reliance on historical errors by The Harder They Fall represents a lost possibility. Based on an intriguing factual narrative, the film exposes the cultural relationships and distinct identities of mixed-race people during a critical junctural point in American history. The Harder They Fall might have improved its already great features and become a really remarkable and provocative movie on Netflix by following more closely to the facts.