The Harder They Fall (2021)

Last month saw Jeymes Samuel’s directorial debut Harder They Fall released across the Netflix streaming platform. This hyper-stylized revenge tale follows Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) as he travels to murder the outlaw, Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), who murdered his parents as a child. In an interview with Variety, the director spoke of this film being reimagined in what he coined the ‘New West’ whereby many of the characters, from outlaws to lawmen, would be portrayed by black actors. And what holds this story together is the all-star ensemble, which when put on paper is quite a ridiculously strong cast for a director’s first flick – Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Regina King, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo. 

 

Aside from the performances however, this film does have its faults which predominantly arise in the first & second acts. The revenge tale is as old as time but the script seriously lacks the clarity & precision needed to execute an effective & engaging story. It suffers from what I’d like to coin as the Lion King syndrome where a majority of our protagonist character development occurs off screen & we are dropped into the final steps of his plight. Essentially like watching Kill Bill but after the opening scene and credits, the next scene is hours before the Bride meets Bill. Naturally given the subject matter, the tone of the film leans heavily on Django Unchained. Yet, the appreciation does not stop there as the film appropriates other facets from Tarantino’s work, from the scaring of a character’s forehead (Inglorious Bastards) to the exact same sound effects of gun shots & blood splatter from Django Unchained. 

 

Now there is nothing wrong with being inspired from others work, especially a craftsman of Tarantino’s calibre. However, one classic Tarantino element Harder They Fall did not require was the lack of focus. Tarantino can get away with his lack of focus in certain points of his films as he has mastered his version of suspense over his decades of filmmaking. It felt as if Samuel’s was trying too hard to emulate the brilliance of Tarantino even while inviting the viewers into this exciting, bustling & merciless world of outlaws. There needed to be a greater emphasis on the character’s journey through this world as it carries itself off like a sequel, with an hour or two missing beforehand that establishes our characters motivations & relationships. It’s by no means a bad film, the performances are exemplary & the third act is incredibly strong. Yet, it is simply another extremely enticing narrative suffering from the weight of its peers that ultimately leads into an unengaging tale.