Jonathan Majors is Nat Love, a young man with a cross-shaped scar on his forehead and a score to settle.
The scar was carved there when he was about 10 years old by the man who gunned down his mother and father.
Flash forward 20 years and Love has killed one man responsible for those deaths. The other, Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is behind bars at the Yuma Territorial Prison.
These days Love and his gang specialize in stealing freshly stolen money. In fact, two of his associates — Bill Pickett and young fast gun Jim Beckwourth — has just relieved the Crimson Hood gang of $25,000.
Then Love gets two bits of life-changing news.
Buck has been pardoned and is set to be released. And the money his gang just stole belonged to a gang working with Rufus Buck.
Accompanied by Marshal Bass Reeves, who wants Buck back behind bars, Love and his companions set out to complete his mission of vengeance.
It won’t be easy. Rufus has set himself up as boss of the all-black down of Redwood. He has two deadly comrades of his own in Cherokee Bill and Trudy Smith (Regina King), not to mention a legion of henchman.
He’s also snatched Nat Love’s lady love, Mary Fields (Zazie Beetz). And if Love doesn’t return the $25,000, plus $10,000 in interest, she’ll meet the same fate as his parents.
Jonathan Majors as Nat Love, sporting the scar Rufus Buck carved into his forehead years before in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Idris Elba as Rufus Buck, out of jail and back in control of Redwood in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Review:
A Western with an all-black ensemble cast, which might off-putting for anyone who’s endured low-budget turkeys like “Brothers in Arms” (2005) or “Gang of Roses” (2003).
But give this one a chance, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Jeymes Samuel has delivered a stylish, wonderful looking, action-packed film with some Spaghetti overtones thrown in for good measure.
But what really makes the film work are standout performances, especially from Jonathan Majors as Love, Idris Elba as the completely believable villain and Lakeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill.
The ending is well-done too. And will leave you wondering if there might someday be a sequel. Here’s hoping there is.
Regina King as Trudy Smith, nicknamed Treacherous for the wicked deeds she does for Rufus Buck in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Directed by:
Jeymes Samuel
Cast:
Jonathan Majors … Nat Love
Idris Elba … Rufus Buck
Zazie Beetz … Stagecoach Mary Fields
Regina King … Trudy Smith
Delroy Lindo … Bass Reeves
Lakeith Stanfield … Cherokee Bill
RJ Cyler … Jim Beckwourth
Danielle Deadwyler … Cuffee
Edi Gathegi … Bill Pickett
Deon Cole … WIley Escoe
Chase Dillon … Young Nat
DeWanda Wise … Eleanor Love
Damon Wayans Jr. … Monroe Grimes
Manny Rubio … Father Esparza
Julio Cesar Cedillo … Jesus Cortez
Mickey Dolan … Young Soldier
Dylan Kenin … Lt. Gen. Abbott
Runtime: 139 min.
Delroy Lindo as Bass Reeves, a lawman willing to turn a blind eye in return for the demise of Rufus Buck in The Harder They Fall (2021)
LaKeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill, one of Rufus Buck’s chief lieutenants in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Memorable lines:
Nat Love: “This is a wanted man. Take him in, and you’ll get $5,000 for your church.”
The Reverend: “Why aren’t you taking him in yourself?”
Nat Love: “I’m worth $10 (thousand).”
Nat Love, making out with Mary Fields when one of his gang members walks into the room: “Pickett, you got the worst timing in the history of timing.”
Nat Love: “I was in Texas at the time of that robbery.”
Bass Reeves: “How do you know when it took place?”
Love: “Whenever the bank robbery took place, I was in Texas. Unless, of course, the bank robbery took place in Texas.”
Bass Reeves: “I seen the devil, and Rufus Buck ain’t him. Devil’s white.”
Redwood citizen: “You got us between a rock and a hard place, Miss Smith.”
Trudy Smith: “How long you been alive in this country? A rock and a hard place is what we call Monday.”
Edi Gathegi as Bill Pickett, one of Nat’s men, in a disagreement with Jim Beckwourth in The Harder They Fall (2021)
RJ Cyler as Jim Beckwourth, trying to lure Cherokee Bill into a gunfight in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Redwood guard, questioning Mary Fields as she rides into town: “This gun says answer the damn question.”
Mary, raising her shotgun: “But this gun don’t talk.”
Mary Fields, encountering Trudy Smith: “Ghastly Gertrude Smith.”
Trudy Smith: “I prefer Treacherous Trudy myself, but I’ll take it.”
Jim Beckwourth: “I hear you’re so fast your opponents ain’t got time to draw. Before you put two in their back.”
Cherokee Bill: “No, that ain’t me. No, I’m the Cherokee Bill that shoots men in the mouth when they talk too much.”
Cherokee Bill: “Being scared will only give you bad karma in the afterlife.”
Deon Cole as Wiley Escoe, the man who ran Redwood until Rufus Buck returned to town in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Danielle Deadwyler as Cufee, bouncer and gun collector at Mary Fields’ saloon in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Delroy Lindo as Bass Reeves, attempting to take Nat Love into custody in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Zazie Beetz as Mary Fields, from tough dame turned damsel in distress in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Idris Elba as Rufus Buck, watching his enemies ride into Redwood in The Harder They Fall (2021)
Jonathan Majors as Nat Love, holding up a bank in all-white Maysville in The Harder They Fall (2021)
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