An engaging Western that breaks no new ground but will hold your interest

Scott Cooper's The Hostiles breaks no new ground as a Western, but it's an engaging and at times moving journey across familiar territory. Set in 1892 initially in NM, the film is about a U.S. soldier (Christian Bale) who is outspoken in his loathing of Native Americans ordered to lead a team of selected soldiers (one a West Point grad, one a rookie, one among the few black soldiers, et al) in escorting a Chayenne chief and some members of his family to their native grounds in Montana. You can probably guess whether Bale's racist attitudes will undergo transformation; you probably can't guess, though it's worth trying, who will survive the journey. In addition to some beautiful Western settings, Cooper provides plenty of adventure along the route and a few twists to the plot as well, including at the very end of the film (a twist I wish he'd left unknotted). Altogether a familiar story well told, clocking in at the what seems to be the new movie standard of 2:15. My only real quibble is that Cooper has a penchant for long, slow scenes in which the male characters speak in deep tones just barely above a mumble - made even more obscure in that many of them sport bushy frontier beards and thick mustaches. Sometimes these conversations involve key plot points that become almost impossible to discern. Show, don't tell - but if you must tell, speak clearly!