From the previews, I expected more from Meek's Cutoff than it delivered. The film follows a group of mid-1800 pioneers as they cross Oregon heading for the Willamette Valley. It starts as they are crossing a river. What follows is a long desolate search for the next source of water, and that is the entire plot. Sometimes you can look at a film like this as a character study. While the performances are good, in this film you learn very little about any of the characters, other than the fact that the father of one of the characters had pigs.
About 2/3 of the way through the film, I started to wonder how the film would end. If they suddenly found water, it would upset the entire mood the film had set. But the other option would be for them all to die. The film chooses to avoid this dilemma, by not bothering with an ending. When the film stopped, everyone in the theater just started laughing. I am not sure that this is the response the director was aiming for.
The cinematography is beautiful, but mostly limited to a brown and gray palette.
The film does have one great line—"We're not lost, we're just finding our way."
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