A beautifully shot but dramatically inert exploration of desire and heartache in 1950s America.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
A misfire with excellent production values, “On Swift Horses” features a cast of bankable actors— Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Twisters”), Jacob Elordi (“Saltburn”) and Will Poulter (“The Bear”)—and a director—Daniel Minahan (“Deadwood: The Movie,” “Game of Thrones”)—with serious credits.
So what went wrong? For one, the film, executive-produced by Edgar-Jones and Elordi, is an oddball, Patricia Highsmith-style period piece of Midwestern Americana with the three major characters played by two Brits and an Aussie. Muriel (Edgar-Jones) is a beautiful, newly-married woman from Kansas, who has moved with her sincere, dullard laborer husband Lee (Coulter, sporting a prodigious pompadour) to mid-1950s San Diego, where she works as a waitress and sidelines at the racetrack as a crafty, winning bettor thanks to local touts, who hang out at her diner and talk business (Does this sound credible?)
As it turns out, Muriel also sparks gay romantic interest in a well-dressed woman (Kat Cunning, “The Deuce”), whom she meets at the track. In earlier scenes set in Kansas, it is clear that Muriel is more sexually attracted to Lee’s “little” brother and Korean War veteran Julius (6-foot-5-inch Elordi, who will play the Monster in the upcoming Guillermo del Toro “Frankenstein” Netflix series). Julius seems to return Muriel’s longing. But he is also gay and a bit of a card shark. Julius prefers Las Vegas to San Diego. But he, his brother Lee, and Muriel keep in touch with letters and phone calls. This geographical (and dramatic) lack of focus takes a toll on one’s patience.
In Vegas, Julius gets a job spying through trick mirrors on gamblers from the boiling hot attic of a casino. In this pursuit, he is joined by the remarkably handsome Henry (Diego Calva, “Babylon”). They remove some of their clothing in the heat. Back in San Diego, Muriel and self-described “dumb-ass hick” Lee go to a neighbor’s home to buy olives. The neighbor, whose name is Sandra (Sasha Calle, “The Flash”), is beautiful and dressed and coiffed mannishly, which does not hide her figure. Muriel looks like she’s going to explode. In “On Swift Horses,” everyone’s sexuality is fluid (I guess this is the word), except for poor, dumb Lee. Julius and Henry cavort in a motel room where they also live. They are saving up money they earn cheating at poker. It’s “Brokeback Mountain: Vegas Edition.” Muriel visits Sandra for more than just eggs and olives, although those ovoid edibles certainly have meaning. The screenplay by American Bryce Kass (“Lizzie”), adapting the 2019 novel by Kansas-native Shannon Pufahl, frequently lacks credibility, but certainly has a thing for horses. For reasons not entirely clear, when Julius finally joins Muriel and Lee at their modest ranch house in a new development, he arrives in an old truck pulling a horse in a trailer. This is where you cue up, “Wild Horses.” A period Thunderbird appears, only to be replaced by something more practical. The score by Mark Orton (“The Holdovers”) is augmented by a ton of period music.
Someone has described “On Swift Horses” as a noir-Western in the manner of the overpraised 2021 Jane Campion drama “The Power of the Dog.” But “On Swift Horses” is only geographically a Western. It is a period study of sexual fluidity, homosexuality in 1950s America, and the lack of fulfillment that plagues many relationships. In his camel-colored leather jacket, Elordi, whose chain-smoking is also not very convincing, is hardly the new James Dean. Julius goes to Tijuana in the third act, searching for Henry. Alas, “On Swift Horses” is all atmosphere and no oxygen.
‘On Swift Horses’
Rating: R for sexual content, nudity, and some language
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Coulter
Director: Daniel Minahan
Writers: Bryce Kass, Shannon Pufahl
Running time: 119 minutes
Where to Watch: AMC Boston Common, Liberty Tree Mall, Coolidge Corner Theater, Landmark Kendall Square, and other suburban theaters
Grade: C+
Boston Movie News 