THE PASSION PROJECTS OF THE MODERN WESTERN

A YEAR OF UNDERRATED EXCELLENCE

- HENRY C. PARKE

I saw two Westerns in theaters in 2024: Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 in Los Angeles, and The Thicket in New York City. There was one other person in the theatre for Horizon, and I was alone for Thicket. I’m guessing the traditional Western audience assumes The Thicket, with its dwarf hero and lesbian villain, is too gimmicky, and the mainstream audience thinks the traditional epic Horizon will be too old-fashioned. It’s a pity, because they are both excellent films and excellent Westerns, made with great talent and great passion. In fact, if there is one uniting factor among many of the best Westerns of the year, it is that they are all passion projects, many the result of years of work.

As has been discussed thoroughly in these pages, Kevin Costner spent years planning and financing Horizon, and even more than with Dances with Wolves and Open Range, he put his reputation and personal fortune on the line. It has not received nearly the reception it deserves, and while we’ll clearly get to stream Chapter 2, the fates of Chapters 3 and 4 remain in doubt.

Thicket star and producer Peter Dinklage recalls, “I read Joe Lansdale’s book, and it was so cinematic. COVID hit this [project] hard and blocked us for a couple years.” The theme of a youth hiring a lawman/bounty hunter to bring a villain to justice, or in this case rescue his sister, has been overworked since True Grit. What’s fresh is the quality of writing, and a role worthy of Dinklage’s vast talent but limited stature. “The older I get, I want them all to be passion projects, to get me out the door.” To bring something new to the familiar character of the evil kidnapper, they’ve changed Cutthroat Bill into a woman, and remarkably, the gravel-throated, face-scarred Juliet Lewis seems as real as the snow they struggle through.