"The Kid"

Yeah, it just played for two weeks (Thursday, March 7, through Thursday, March 21) in Cinemark theaters. In my (second-level) city, it only played in the two Cinemark theaters and nowhere else, and it is now gone. But it is still showing somewhere else in my region, in a non-Cinemark theater, so examine your local listings. 

"The Kid" (2019)

Anyway, I viewed The Kid twice more this week, including on Thursday afternoon. On my third viewing, I again deemed the film "pretty good/good," but on my fourth screening, I elevated my assessment to "good/very good." In other words, while I liked the film a fair amount from the beginning, it ultimately grew further on me and I now deem it quite a good Western. On my fourth viewing, I found The Kid to be gripping. I now think even more highly of the cinematography, which again excels at both composition and lighting, especially in terms of using natural cross-light (a seemingly low-in-the-sky sun) to foster back-lighting. The iconographic introductory shot of Billy the Kid is, I would dare suggest, canonical and one of the greatest in the long and visually storied history of the Western. The film's editing is excellent, and director Vincent D'Onofrio offers plenty of visual "coverage," meaning shots from different angles (especially high and low) and camera positions that really provide a full-fledged visual treatment, the kind that involves the viewer without distracting from the story. (In other words, D'Onofrio understands how to showcase the story visually; the different angles and variety of shots appear logical and organic, rather than random and misplaced.)

After four viewings, I can also say that the Billy the Kid character is better-developed than I had suggested earlier, even if that development is concise and gestural. The casting of Dane DeHaan is visually perfect, and DeHaan does a fine job of suggesting Billy's charismatic combination of youthful impulsiveness, confused insecurity, and compensating bravado. Ethan Hawke is rock-solid as Pat Garrett, and novice Jake Schur imparts the genuine kid with a compelling blend of characteristics. His eponymous character manages to be star-struck yet level-headed, resilient yet vulnerable. And the mournful guitar-oriented score and quotable axiomatic lines are more compelling and effective than I had originally stated. After all, while the dialogue is not on the level of a classic Western, it is fairly intelligent and eloquent. On the other hand, while a physically menacing, bearded Chris Pratt looks the part as the main villain, his manner of speaking suggests shtick as much as anything. 

Matthew Lloyd's cinematography is worthy of an Oscar nomination, but since The Kid is a low-profile Western released in March, it doubtlessly will not receive such a nomination come next January.

Again, though, perhaps my greatest takeaway is how The Kid offers a reminder that one does not need a vast budget and newfangled concept in order to deliver an atmospheric, edgy, intricate, and visually sumptuous movie.