The Homesman

Director: Tommy Lee Jones
Cast: Hilary Swank, Tommy Lee Jones, John Lithgow, Tim Blake Nelson and Meryl Streep.

When the harsh realities facing an 1850s Nebraska community take their toll, the men draw lots to decide who will accompany the ladies back to civilisation.

Resolute and principled Mary Bee Cuddy (Swank) insists on participating in the draw, and winds up with the short straw. While she is preparing for the journey, she saves George Briggs (Jones) from a lynching, and offers to pay him to come along.

This vivid adaptation of the 1988 novel by Glendon Swarthout mixes bone-dry comedy with moments of tragedy, and its top-notch cast includes John Lithgow as the preacher who advises the women to go back east, Tim Blake Nelson as a lustful cowboy, and Meryl Streep as the Methodist minister’s wife set to receive the human cargo. But ultimately this is Swank’s film.