Title – Butcher’s Crossing (2022) 

Director – Gabe Polsky (Red Army) 

Cast – Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Jeremy Bobb, Paul Raci 

Plot – Based on American author John Williams famed novel, this western follows Harvard drop out Will Andrews (Hechinger) as he ventures into the unforgiving wilds of America with rugged hunter Miller (Cage) and a small party of fellow adventurers to hunt a secluded buffalo herd unlike any other.  

“I would like to go on a hunt”

Review by Eddie on 23/09/2024

Premiering all the way back at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 0f 2022, it’s been a long and unceremonious journey for director Gabe Polsky’s adaptation of John Williams revered American novel Butcher’s Crossing with the Nicolas Cage starring dramatic western receiving little fanfare as it appeared in a handful of cinemas around the world before being dumped on VOD channels in the early months of 2024. 

Filmed over the period of a few weeks in Blackfeet Nation land in the picturesque state of Montana, Crossing is a film that looks the part and remains relatively faithful to Williams demanding and intense text but despite its earnest attempts there’s a genuine lack of engagement and purpose to Polsky’s film that makes it a feature that leaves little in the way of a lasting impression while at the same time somehow making a bald headed fur-coat wearing Nicolas Cage a boring co-lead. 

Centred around Fred Hechinger’s charisma free Harvard drop out Will Andrews venturing into the untamed American wilds with eyes on experiencing the real “wild” west, where he meets Cage’s unhinged hunter Miller who partners with Andrews on a dangerous expedition into the rugged mountains with hopes of a buffalo hunt that would rewrite the record books, there’s a unique and intriguing set-up to Williams novel and Polsky’s film but as it’s adapted here, Crossing gets into a rather boring grove very early on, a grove of which it’s never able to properly escape from. 

Looking fantastic thanks to cinematographer David Gallego, who ensures Crossing’s small budget is put to good use on the natural landscapes the film was gifted, this rumination on the American dream and American ideals as well as mankind’s mistreatment of nature is a film that feels the part in certain circumstances but there’s no real heart and soul here holding everything together and Hechinger and Cage aren’t bringing much too the table, with little key supports Jeremy Bobb as reluctant participant Fred Schneider or Paul Raci as rambling old-timer McDonald unable to do much also to help Crossing stand out from the ever increasing crowd that is the VOD market. 

Perhaps appealing to die-hard fans of Williams work and those that seek any excuse to venture back to the American west were lawlessness and bloodshed was part of the everyday, Crossing may find a small and willing audience but there’s little broad appeal here, with even a strangely docile Cage performance unlikely to do much for those seeking more wild antics from their favourite cult figure. 

Final Say – 

There’s times where Butcher’s Crossing may look the part but this uninvolving dramatic Western fails to inspire in the emotional stakes or thrills stakes creating a strange feature that is unlikely to ever find a significant fanbase. 

2 Buffalo hides out of 5