Fans Are Raving About This Long-Forgotten Nearly 2 Decades Old Western Masterpiece
An old(ish) Australian Western called The Proposition is suddenly getting a lot of attention again.
Viewers who have recently rediscovered it can’t stop praising how powerful and unique it is, calling it one of the best Westerns ever made.
Released in 2005, the film was directed by John Hillcoat and written by musician and screenwriter Nick Cave.
It stars Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Emily Watson, John Hurt, and David Wenham. The movie was filmed in the dry, harsh outback of Queensland, giving it a striking, dusty atmosphere that perfectly fits its grim story.
The film takes place in 1880s Australia. Guy Pearce plays Charlie Burns, a man forced to make a terrible choice by a police captain named Morris Stanley, played by Ray Winstone. After a deadly gunfight, Charlie and his younger brother Mikey are captured.
The captain gives Charlie an impossible deal. to save his younger brother from execution, he must find and kill their older brother Arthur, who is wanted for brutal crimes. What follows is a dark, violent journey through loyalty, guilt, and survival in a lawless land.
Critics at the time praised the film for its raw emotion and haunting beauty. Roger Ebert gave it a perfect score, calling it “a movie you cannot turn away from; it is so pitiless and uncompromising.” Ty Burr from The Boston Globe described it as “a near-masterpiece of mood and menace.”
Australian critic Margaret Pomeranz called it “an extraordinary film [that] explores the elliptical nature of class, race, colonisation and family.” Her co-host, David Stratton, said it was “a fascinating depiction of the outback in this period” and praised Danny Huston’s performance as “extraordinary.”
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Proposition holds an 86% score from critics, and on Metacritic it sits at 73 out of 100. It has often been compared to the works of Sam Peckinpah for its brutal honesty and cinematic style.
Today, fans online are giving it the love it didn’t fully get when it first came out. One viewer wrote, “soooooo gooood! also, so intense nearly unbearable and the moral and ethical pain as well.” Another said, “Just saw this, really terrific, but grim. Unexpectedly ferocious performance by Danny Huston.”
Many agree it’s one of the most underrated Westerns ever made, with one comment saying, “Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone are fantastic in this. And the score and cinematography are stars of their own.”
Some fans even compare it to great literary works, with one saying, “This is the closest cinema has ever came to BLOOD MERIDIAN.”
Even after all these years, The Proposition still hits hard. Its story of family, revenge, and moral struggle continues to connect with audiences. It’s violent, emotional, and haunting, a film that proves great cinema never really gets old.
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