Fresh
A beautifully shot tracker's western that brings the Fordian poles of garden and desert to bear on the bushrangers' Outback, this is also a revenge drama of substantial horror.
Ben Walters, Time Out
The Proposition
This land will be civilized.
2005 · 1h 44m · R
Drama, Western
Directed by
John Hillcoat
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The Proposition
Overview
In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.
Director and cast
- John Hillcoat Director
- Guy Pearce as Charlie Burns
- Ray Winstone as Captain Morris Stanley
- Danny Huston as Arthur Burns
- Emily Watson as Martha Stanley
- David Wenham as Eden Fletcher
- Richard Wilson as Mike Burns
- John Hurt as Jellon Lamb
- Noah Taylor as Brian O'Leary
- Robert Morgan as Sergeant Lawrence
- Jeremy Madrona as Asian Prostitute
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
85%
Tomatometer
Fresh
A visionary tale of a fragile civilizing impulse crushed by family loyalty and a lust for revenge in the vast Outback of the late 19th century.
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Rotten
It doesn't offer much that hasn't already been said about lawless frontier towns, bonds between outlaws or the settling of the West.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
Rotten
By the end, it all pays off exactly the way a hundred earlier Westerns did.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Fresh
In-your-face combativeness is The Proposition's power, and for those of you who value your westerns, the effect is not unlike that of The Wild Bunch or Unforgiven.
Peter Debruge, Miami Herald
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