Rust

Grade: C+

Rust is the infamous movie where production shut down in the fall of 2021, when a prop gun – that, unbeknownst to everyone, contained a live bullet – went off in producer/star Alec Baldwin’s hand, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. That same bullet went through her and hit writer/director Joel Souza in the shoulder. A year and a half later, those willing/able to return did so, and they finished the movie. It will always overshadow any opinions of the quality of the movie. I wasn’t able to stop thinking about it the whole time I was watching. The elephant never leaves the room.

So, how was it? Reviewing it feels like actually answering the question asked in that great one-liner joke “Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?” Would I have seen it if it hadn’t been for this? I don’t think so, especially if it didn’t get a run in theaters. I’d have thought “Alec Baldwin produced and stars in a 2+ hour straight-to-streaming Western? I don’t need to see that.” What DID I think of it? It’s not terrible.

It’s bloated, mainly due to it giving us unnecessary subplots and details about minor characters that I didn’t care to know so much about. More focus on the main plot line, which I was mostly on board for, would have served the film better. It’s the late 1800s, and young teenager Lucas has landed himself in jail. He was aiming for a stray animal that kept showing up on his property, but instead, accidentally shot and killed one of the townspeople. (The eerie parallel to real life events on set won’t be lost on anyone.) Since this man was the father of the boy Lucas had gotten into a fight with earlier, it appears premeditated, and he gets sentenced to hang.

In the middle of the night, a man named Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin) swoops in to break Lucas out. Rust is a long-lost grandfather Lucas didn’t know was still around. His mom’s dad. It’s not long until a $1000 reward is out for the capture and return of Rust and Lucas. Rust has plans for his grandson. He wants to get him to safety, and reunite him with his younger brother (the parents have long been out of the picture).

Otherwise, we have all the Western cliches paraded on. Everybody reckons something. The bartender is always wiping the inside of a glass. The honky tonk pianist at the saloon stops playing whenever the first fightin’ words get spoke. The horses are eternally up for anything – never seeming to eat, sleep, or take care of biological needs. Rust’s middle name is apparently “by-God.” I was constantly wondering – and seeing if I could tell – what parts were filmed before, and what was from after. Everybody’s lives must have been so different when they came back, especially Baldwin’s. He killed somebody. That has to change you. Souza returned to direct the man who shot him in the shoulder. Hutchins had some real talent. Her cinematography is quite striking, and my favorite part of the movie, but there again, am I just noticing it because of what happened? I’ll never know.

By the end, we have arrived at Point B. The whole movie is more a series of events than a story with any kind of arc or theme. It starts, then it ends – and there’s some fat in there that could have been trimmed. It didn’t need to be 2 hours and 19 minutes. Proceeds go to the Hutchins family, which is the biggest reason there will ever be to see it. You can support them by streaming it. If it’s even possible to view it and mentally disconnect from the on-set tragedy, we’re still not left with a great film. Souza has said he wishes he’d never written it. For more than one reason, I agree with that.

Grade: C+