Reflections on Netflix's "The Harder They Fall"

This week Netflix released the movie The Harder They Fall, a fictional story about legendary black historical figures of the wild west. It's a star studded film, with lots of witty dialogue, and plenty of action. These are my top reflections on The Harder They Fall.

The Cast

The cast is star studded with a truckload of black star power, who all play characters from history. Idris Elba plays Rufus Buck, based on the outlaw who was a part of a gang of African Americans and Creek Indians who committed a number of crimes in the Oklahoma Territory and Arkansas border. Johnathan Majors plays Nat Love, who was a former slave who became one of the most famous black cowboys of the west. Regina King plays Trudy Smith, a pickpocket who was also known as Treacherous Trudy. Zazie Beetz plays Stagecoach Mary, a freed slave who became the first black female to ever work for the United States Postal Service. Delroy Lindo plays Bass Reeves, who some have noted as the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. Lakeith Stanfield plays Cherokee Bill, an outlaw of mixed race who lead a gang of outlaws in the Oklahoma territory in the late 1800s. RJ Cyler plays Jim Beckwourth, one of the most well known African American Pioneers of the west, largely because of his autobiography was published. Danielle Deadwyler plays Cuffee, which was modeled after Cathay Williams, a former slave who posed as a man to enlist in the US Army and became the first African American woman to enlist. Edi Gathegi plays Bill Pickett, a legendary cowboy of African American and Native American descent, who invented the sport of steer wrestling in rodeos.

Even with all of the stars listed above, there were even more stars who played less known characters in history. Comedian Deon Cole plays Wiley Escoe, a humorous character with a mouth full of gold teeth. Damon Wayans, Jr.. who always looks like a carbon copy of his dad, plays Monroe Grimes. DeWanda Wise, who played the leading role in the She's Gotta Have It Series, plays Eleanor Love, who I actually missed the first time around, due to all the other star power in the film.

The Plot

One of the most interesting things about this movie is that although it is based on a real characters from history, but the movie is a fictitious story that ties them all together. In the movie Idris Elba's character, Rufus Buck and his gang, which includes Regina Kings character Trudy Smith and Lakeith Stanfields character Cherokee Bill, are outlaws, who find themselves in a jam because they were robbed by a group of other outlaws led by Johnathan Majors character Nat Love, and his gang, which includes Edi Gathegi's character Bill Picket and RJ Cyler's character Jim Beckwourth. Love's gang is later assisted by a US Marshall, played by Delroy Lindo's character Bass Reeves, as well as Zazie Beetz's character (also Love's love interest) Stagecoach Mary and her assistant/body guard Danielle Deadwyler's character Cuffee, who take on Buck's gang to ensure that they don't succeed in taking over the fictional all black City of Redwood.

The film contains great dialogue, with lots of witty lines and great story telling, especially by Regina King and Idris Elba. Even though it was a period piece, the N-word was never used throughout the movie. There is also plenty of action as you would expect in a western, including some over the top Quentin Tarantino style moments, with lots of gun fights, explosions, train and bank robberies, fist fights, and more. The plot is also set to a soundtrack full of songs that slap and help drive the tone of the film.

The Model

The model of taking characters from black history and re-imagining them to create entertaining stories and movies is not a unique concept. The play and film One Night in Miami, the latter which was directed by Regina King, was a fairly recent example of this format. There are so many less known black historical figures to draw from, who have yet to make it into the mainstream history curriculum, but can be looked to for inspiration for future movies and films. Especially, at the current time where Hollywood seems to struggle so much for ideas that they keep recycling shows and movies in a variety of remakes, inspiration from these historical characters may be a great source of fresh material. I hope that if such films involving characters from black history become more common, that it encourages more people to research the actual history of the lives of the people the characters were based on. Particularly, since all the recent hoopla over critical race theory is moving the history curriculum in the wrong direction.

Conclusion

I definitely suggest checking out the film the Harder They Fall. It is a great film with a stellar cast, great dialogue, loads of action, and a soundtrack that slaps. It's probably one of the best movies I've seen this year and even though it is a mostly black cast, I think it's a film would be entertaining to a wide range of audiences.