If you remember, JANE GOT A GUN almost didn’t get made.
The Natalie Portman western went through three leading men (Michael Fassbender, Jude Law, and Bradley Cooper) and one director (Lynne Ramsay) before finally starting production with Gavin O’ Connor directing Portman, Joel Edgerton and Ewan McGregor as the leads. Then, Relativity delayed the film, then lost the rights to the Weinstein Brothers, who are set to release it in February.
This French-subtitled trailer gives us our first real look at the film, which has Portman’s housewife enlisting the help of gunslinger (and former beau) Joel Edgerton to defend her farm and her ailing husband (Noah Emmerich) from a gang of outlaws, led by a swarthy, moutachioed Ewan McGregor.
There’s more action on display than I expected from this independent production, and I like the implication that Edgerton has second thoughts about taking Portman’s side against McGregor’s heavy (even though the last moments make it pretty clear he doesn’t bite). Portman fought hard to get this made, and it’s evident why; this seems like a great, strong female protagonist, just as capable of lining up a rifle sights as she is enlisting a badass ex-boyfriend to her aid. Plus, watching the former Queen Amidala kneecap Obi-Wan Kenobi at point blank range is more than enough reason for this movie to exist, dontchathink?
Not too many westerns getting made these days (evident in the decision to make THE WILD BUNCH a Mexican Cartel flick…blech), but this one looks like it might have the viscera and star power to get some asses in seats, or at least put a smile on some faces.
JANE GOT A GUN sometime in February 2016.
