‘Butcher’s Crossing’ is a western that follows Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger), a Harvard drop-out who leaves Massachusetts in pursuit of something greater. Seeking the answers in the Colorado wilderness, Will joins a team of buffalo hunters on a treacherous journey, putting his life at risk.
Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Edward Williams, the film follows Andrews as he seeks a greater purpose to his life and to explore the country he lives in. Joining forces with experienced buffalo hunter Miller (Nicolas Cage), his hunting companion Charley (Xander Berkeley) and skinner Schneider (Jeremy Bobb) the party set out on the dangerous tour.
The film toys with the idea of conflict amongst the party members, as tension rises between Miller and Schneider, the latter highly suspicious of the former’s hunch for where the party should head. Sowing the seeds of resentment and suspense, the film disappointingly fails to further explore, or rather intensify, the conflict that could have been drawn from the men almost meeting their end on their way across the unforgiving lands.
Having overcome the dangers of the road, the focus shifts on the men’s excitement for having reached the promised hoards of buffalo. Fleeting as that moment may be, it is soon overtaken by a cyclical, almost unbreakable fixation that Miller has to keep hunting. Surprisingly toned down, Cage’s Miller does divorce himself from sanity and shows the damaging impact his greed has had on him and the environment and people around him. Even though he is shown as a monster that is broken and irredeemable by the story’s end, the limited examination of the crippled psyche leaves more to be desired through Miller.
An excellent performance from Bobb, Schneider portrays what most may initially suspect to be the ultimate downfall of the party. Surprisingly insightful and rational at times, Bobb’s Schneider has the promise of being more than a one-note contemptible brute, as he exhibits flashes of humanity and sincerity, but ultimately is not given more room to grow as a person, leaving him in the same boat as Cage’s Miller.
With breathtaking views of the American west and a passionately delivered message about the decimation of the buffalo population, ‘Butcher’s Crossing’ lays a solid foundation for the exploration of masculinity, greed and obsession, yet falters in delivering a stirring meditation on any by only providing for a surface level exploration of the aforementioned, disallowing for the film to take time to ruminate on its themes. Delivering a strong message about conservation and the preservation of wildlife, ‘Butcher's Crossing’ swings and attempts to dissect important themes, yet misses the mark on delivery.
Score: 3/4
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