Jane Got A Gun is a 2016 western about a woman asks her ex-lover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.
Today’s Netflix Pick is a stylized action thriller that is a must for western fans. It stars Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton in an unconventional story that flips the tropes a bit with a female-centered, pistol-toting hero at the heart. With some sharp dialogue and lots of good old-fashioned gunplay, there’s plenty of good to be had in this underrated film. It’s Jane Got A Gun and it’s what you’re watching tonight. Here’s why.
THE STORY: Directed by Gavin O’Connor, it follows Jane (Portman), who husband rides home full of bullet holes. He warns her that trouble is coming in the name of the infamous Bishop Boys Gang, led by the ferocious Colin McCann (Ewan McGregor), a man Jane has dealt with before. She plans to defend her home, even while her husband can’t, so she rides off to see Dan Frost (Edgerton), her former fiancé, a man she left years earlier when she thought he perished in the war. Naturally, Frost is not quick to say yes to the woman he still loves, hateful of the man he believes stole her away. He eventually relents and agrees to take up arms to protect her, and as Ham lies paralyzed in the house, Frost and Jane forge a plan and a strategy for stopping McCann.
WHY YOU NEED TO WATCH: While the genre itself is pretty familiar and retreads the same ol’ stories over and over, Jane Got A Gun plays with the formula enough to give this movie a nice little twist. Portman is unexpectedly good in a more stoic role and delivers a solid performance though Edgerton is even better. O’Conner does some work behind the camera as well keeping some of the tropes in check, giving gunfights and such some fresh blood. McGregor clearly is having some fun as the bad guy and is menacing throughout while he and his gang press upon Jane. Good style and good action make this well worth a look. It’s streaming on Netflix right now.