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Movies & TV

Ride With The Devil

RIDE WITH THE DEVIL (Criterion/E1, 1999) D: Ang Lee, w/ Tobey Maguire, Jeffrey Wright. Rating: NNNNN DVD package: NNNN Rating: NNNNN


Check out the extras’ excellent interview with Jeffrey Wright and you’ll hear that Ride With The Devil is about race relations in America as embodied by Wright’s character, Daniel Holt, a freed slave who follows his liberator, George Clyde (Simon Baker) to fight for the South in the Civil War.

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Watch the movie and you might think it’s a coming-of-age story about Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire), who likewise follows his friend Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich) to war.

The friends fight a guerrilla war on the Kansas-Missouri border, far from the regular armies. Gradually, Daniel and Jake form a distant friendship. Later, they take part in the massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, the movie’s violent centrepiece and a turning point for the characters.

Other themes emerge, but they never overwhelm the pleasure of watching talented young actors navigate complex emotions and realistic period dialogue while Ang Lee’s camera glides gracefully over landscapes, faces and the chaos of battle.

You’ll find helpful background on the Civil War in the essay booklet and both commentaries. In addition, Lee discusses the scenes he’s restored for this version (10 minutes longer than the theatrical cut).

EXTRAS Director and writer commentary cameraman, production designer and sound designer commentary Wright interview essay booklet. Widescreen.

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