1883 (2022) Review

Sam Elliott is Shea Brennan and LaMonica Garrett is Thomas, Civil War veterans who accept a job leading a large group of German emigrants to Oregon.

First stop, Fort Worth, where they plan to stock up for the trip ahead and acquire cattle for the portion of the trip where game will be scarce.

And, with luck, they’ll be able to hire a few skilled cowboys and frontiersmen to help with the journey.

That’ll be especially important considering how green these emigrants are.

Only a couple speak English. They know nothing of poison ivy or rattlesnakes, let alone how to cross a river.

Hell, they’ve shown up wagons drawn by oxen, ill-suited and sure to perish during the hot, dry trip across Texas.

One of the first things Brennan does is sell the oxen and replace them with horses and mules.

He also encourages another Civil War vet, former Confederate Capt. James Dutton (Tim McGraw) to join the wagon train.

Dutton’s heading somewhere — he’s not sure where yet — to escape post-war Tennessee.

He’s a tough man, but he’s also a tough man facing a tough task. He’s being accompanied on the trip West by wife Margaret (Faith Hill), teenage daughter Elsa (Isabel May), 5-year-old son John, a widowed sister and the sister’s teenage daughter.

So he decides to become part of the emigrant train and help Brennan and Thomas navigate the perilous journey ahead.

But where the older men see danger and peril, lovely young Elsa sees adventure and freedom and a chance to come of age on a grand journey to a new beginning.

James Landry Hebert as Wade and Faith Hill as Margaret Dutton, watching a Sioux war party approach in 1883 (2021-22)

Review:

If you are reading this and haven’t seen “1883,” stop right now.

Head to Paramount+ and sign up so you can stream the series. Or to your favorite online shopping site and order the DVD.

I bought the DVD when it was released and let it sit on a shelf for three months, intimidated by the nearly 10-hour runtime and disappointed by so many mini-series that came before it.

Now, I’m sorry that I did. Because “1883” immediately joins my all-time Top 20 Westerns list. And just might be the best made so far in the 21st Century.

At a time when so many Westerns rely on sci-fi or horror elements, or increasingly eccentric characters, for their appeal, “1883” does neither.

Instead, series creator Taylor Sheridan — who wrote all 10 episodes and directed the first — delivers a wonderful cast of believable characters in a heart-wrenching story.

And did I mention a script that is marvelous, magnificent, at times lyrically spell-binding.

As for the characters, I was unfamiliar with Tim McGraw or Faith Hill as screen personas. Both are pleasant surprises here. The scenes with their children — Elsa and John — are brilliant.

And how many Westerns stars have we watched squander those Western creds with guest starring stints in roles they were clearly too old to play?

Sam Elliott dodges that fate here, turning in a gritty performance as a wagon boss as likely to ride toward trouble as around it. Even as his outlook on the journey he’s undertaken grows increasingly dim. At age 77, folks!

Then there’s Isabel May as Elsa, the Dutton’s teenage daughter. What can one say, except: Wow! What a performance! It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been so emotionally invested in the fate of a character in a Western.

Sheridan had interviewed May for a part on another of his series, “Mayor of Kingstown.” He insisted Paramount hire her for the role of Elsa. Then he tells the story through her coming-of-age eyes.

And what a memorable story strong-willed young Elsa weaves, first awe-struck by the possiblities of the trip West, then shocked by the accompanying dangers, then embracing the freedom of a new land without rules.

Is the mini-series perfect? Probably not. There’s a major plot twist in episodes eight and nine that strains the bounds of plausibility. There’s a meeting between James Dutton and a Sioux warrior in episode nine that shatters those bounds.

But given how well-done this is, those wind up being minor complaints.

Thank you, Taylor Sheridan, for reminding us why we fell in love with Westerns. And for reminding us how great a Western can be.

Tim McGraw as James Dutton, dreaming of a new home for his family in Oregon in 1883 (2021-22)

Directed by:
Taylor Sheridan
Ben Richardson
Christina Alexandra Voros

Cast:
Sam Elliott … Shea Brennan
Tim McGraw … James Dutton
Faith Hill … Margaret Dutton
Isabel May … Elsa Dutton
LaMonica Garrett … Thomas
Marc Rissmann … Josef
Audie Rick … John Dutton Sr.
Eric Nelson … Ennis
James Landry Hebert … Wade
Noah Le Gros … Colton
Alex Fine … Grdy
Gratiela Brancusi … Noemi
Anna Fiamora … Risa
Amanda Jaros …. Alina
Martin Sensmeier … Sam
James Jordan … Cookie
Billy Bob Thornton … Jim Courtright
Tom Hankes … Gen. Meade
Graham Greene … Spotted Eagle
Dawn Olivieri … Claire Dutton
Emma Malaouff … Mary Abel Dutton
Rita Wilson … Carolyn
Taylor Sheridan … Charles Goodnight

Runtime: about 600 minutes

SEE ALSO:
Memorable lines
More cast photos
Elsa’s journey West in photos
Elsa’s journey West in words

Isabel May as Elsa Dutton, concerned about an ominous warning in 1883 (2021-22)

Audie Rick as John Dutton, watching his mom and dad interact in 1883 (2021-22)

Sam Elliott as Shea Brennan, hired to guide a group of German immigrants to Oregon in 1883 (2021-22)

Tim McGraw as James Dutton, prepared for trouble and protecting his family in 1883 (2021-22)