The Dead Don’t Hurt movie review

MOVIE TITLE:   The Dead Don’t Hurt

This Western drama is now playing in theaters, as well as on Fandango at Home.

RATING:  R

LENGTH: 2 hours 9 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE:  B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

The story is about star-crossed lovers on the western frontier in the 1960s.  An independent, strong woman has a relationship with a Danish immigrant until he decides to join the Civil War effort, leaving her alone to defend herself from the ruthless men who run the town.

Kudos to Viggo Mortensen for directing this character study/romance!  He wasn’t planning on acting in the movie, but the actor who was cast had to step out due to a work conflict, so Vicky Krieps encouraged Viggo to do it.  I’m excited to watch his directing career unfold.  His directorial debut was Falling. Oh and by the way, he also wrote the whole shebang!

THINGS I LIKED:

• I adore Viggo Mortensen and think he’s amazing.  I thought he should have won that Academy Award for Best Actor in The Green Book!  He was so great in that!  Pay close attention to the sword we see a knight carry in the opening scene: it’s Aragorn’s sword from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was a gift to Viggo Mortensen by director Peter Jackson.  Sweet!  Viggo Mortensen actually grew up in Denmark.  One of my sons is dating a lovely young woman from Denmark!
• Vicky Krieps is such a classic actress and beauty.  I hadn’t seen her in anything before until “Phantom Thread” put her on the American Silver Screen.  Viggo Mortensen wanted her in the movie because she was believable as a woman who would live in the 1860s.  He said that not all actresses could pull it off.  True.
• The villains do a great job illustrating corruption and power: Danny Huston and Solly McLeod.
• I didn’t even recognize Garret Dillahunt in this.
• The young Atlas Green is totally cute.
• The name of the title in Spanish means “Until the End of the World”.  When she asks him why he went to San Francisco, he answered, “To see the end of the world.”
• We don’t know how much time passes by.  The only reference we have is when he tells someone that his wife died 12 years ago.
• Lovely cinematography by Marcel Zyskind.
• Viggo Mortensen’s character explains that going to fight in the Civil War is the right thing to do, although he leaves his wife defenseless in a hostile town.  Was that the right thing to do?  We see him toss his Civil War medal over a cliff, letting us know he realized he made a bad decision.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

• The movie has flashbacks and also jumps forward, so it get a bit confusing when trying to figure out the timeline.
• Some will complain that nothing “happens” in the movie.
• The run time is too long to say what it needs to.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

• We see bloody murders by gunshot.
• We see a man hung for a crime he didn’t commit.
• An unmarried couple “goes at it” (we see them clothed)
• A woman is raped (we only see the initial attack)
• Kids will be bored.
• Bullies
• Some characters speak French, so English subtitles are used occasionally.
• We also hear Spanish and Danish spoken.

THEMES:

• Harsh life on the western frontier during the Civil War, especially for women
• Love
• Revenge
• Forgiveness
• Trying to create a quiet life while the world keeps interrupting with wars and bullies

FUNNY LINES:

• “It looks like a bandit’s hideout.” – Vivienne  (Vicky Krieps)
• “What do you do here?” – Vivienne   “As little as possible.” –   Holger Olsen  (Viggo Mortensen)

INTERESTING LINES:

• “You can’t dream your life away.” – Holger Olsen  (Viggo Mortensen)  “Why not?” – Vivienne  (Vicky Krieps)
• “How was your war?”- Vivienne   (Vicky Krieps)

MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE:

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True Grit: https://amzn.to/3RtmDNQ

Unforgiven:  https://amzn.to/3Ruwfrz

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