MovieChat Forums > Ride with the Devil (1999) Discussion > Wow, what an awesome movie

Wow, what an awesome movie

posted 18 years ago by illini_CHL
16 replies | jump to latest

Someone has to start a thread that gives the other side.

I went into this film with zero expectations and I was genuinely surprised. It's not Cold Mountain, but it's not far from it, IMO.

At times the acting is bit questionable (Ulrich, Jewel), but it's never so bad that it detracts from a scene. Jewel did fine. They were wise not to give her too many lines.

If you appreciate a good script, you will like this movie. There is subtle humor, as well as some pretty thoughtful, subtle "philosophizing" throughout the entire film. I laughed out loud several times, simply because the script is so well-written. There are a lot of humorous lines at just the right time, if you pay attention and listen: "I believe that man would marry stones to stones if there was a chicken at the end."

The one serious line that stuck with me was when "Dutchie" says: "It ain't right and it ain't wrong. It just is."

This is a wonderful movie. If you loved Cold Mountain, might you be happy to watch a 75% version?

[–] Ezrateach 13 years ago

I am a big Ang Lee fan, but this was one film I had missed. Now that it is available on Netflix' watch-instantly feature, I gave it try and am really glad I did. I think this is a terrific movie. I would place it in the genre of authentic westerns like The Assassination of Jesse James, Bad Company, and the latest amazing version of True Grit.

I loved the performances of Toby Maguire and Geoffrey Wright, and was quite impressed with Jewel's subtle work as the young southern woman. She gave a very natural performance, which really drew me in as the story unfolded.

Ride with the Devil realistically depicts the horrors of war in general, and the Civil War in particular. And there is no way that this doesn't depict how wrong slavery was, but it expects the viewer to absorb that idea gradually as the character of Holt unfolds, for example. At the end, you see how much he deserves to be free, how all people do.