A homely, self-sufficient frontierswoman (Hilary Swank), personally seeing over her claim in Nebraska Territory and becoming increasingly distressed at her bleak prospects at landing a husband, agrees to accompany three women who have lost control of their faculties to Iowa where they can receive a ride back east to receive the proper psychiatric treatment. When she rescues a scoundrelous squatter (Tommy Lee Jones) from imperative doom, he makes an unwilling partner for the journey and an even less likely candidate for matrimony. The Homesman, directed by Jones from Glendon Swarthout's novel, is an alternately desolate and humorous Western, which keeps with the traditions of the genre while at the same time remaining consistently offbeat and entertaining. Swank is given another tailor made role and is more than up to the task while Jones delivers a centerpiece performance for his more than formidable career.
*** 1/2 out of ****
*** 1/2 out of ****
