Verdict
Summary
Earnest and fairly genuine from character development to story crafting, Land gets a little weepy and frustrating at times due to the character’s stubbornness and stupidity, but as the movie goes on it begins to settle correctly and thanks to growth from its characters, it begins to mature and get stronger as a story.
Plot:
After a tragedy that upends her life, a woman leaves her life behind for the wilderness where she must survive or die trying.
Review:
Edee (Robin Wright, who also directed) experiences the pain and sorrow of losing her husband and son in a terrible, senseless tragedy, and so in a committed act of self emancipation, she leaves her life behind and packs a few meager belongings and supplies and purchases land in the Rockies, with the intention to live in a little cabin all by herself. When she arrives, she is totally unprepared to face the harsh reality of living alone in the wilds, and being a city girl she faces certain starvation or death from exposure if she doesn’t learn how to survive but quick. Unexpectedly she gets help from a kind hunter named Miguel (played by Demian Bichir) who teaches her how to hunt and to survive in the worst conditions. But Miguel only stops by once in a while, so Edee must buck up and fight for her survival every step of the way. As the months pass, Edee’s healing begins to take effect, but when Miguel stops coming around, she makes a meaningful journey on foot to find some answers that will help her to move on with her life.
Earnest and fairly genuine from character development to story crafting, Land gets a little weepy and frustrating at times due to the character’s stubbornness and stupidity, but as the movie goes on it begins to settle correctly and thanks to growth from its characters, it begins to mature and get stronger as a story. It’s a beautiful film, and an ultimately rewarding one, but just don’t expect a masculine adventure story or anything like that. This is a purely feminine and human story, thanks to the way the film is treated by Wright, who clearly gave this film a lot of her heart and soul.
Universal will be releasing Land on a Blu-ray / digital code combo pack on May 11th, and bonus features on the disc include “Crafting Land,” “After the Trauma,” and a focus on Wright’s directing feature.
