403 – The Homesman (with Richard Lawson!)

We welcome back Richard Lawson this week to discuss Tommy Lee Jones’s final (to date!) directorial effort, 2014’s The Homesman. Led by Hilary Swank, the film follows a 19th century woman charged to transport three women with “prairie madness” across the Nebraska Territory. With Jones as a wayward man who assists her journey, the film debuted at Cannes and promised a return to the Best Actress race for Swank that never came to be.

This episode, we talk about Swank’s two Best Actress Oscars and Richard details his first experience with Cannes. We also talk about this film’s arrival after neo-westerns made a splash in the late aughts, its reflection on women during old west times, and Meryl Streep’s third act cameo.

Topics also include Ben Schnetzer, Amy Madigan narrating the Donner Party, and Julianne Moore’s sudden arrival in 2014’s Best Actress race with Still Alice.