‘Rust': Alec Baldwin's Ill-Fated Western

Epoch Times

20-05-2025

NR | 2h 19m | Western | 2025
'Rust' is the movie you've been hearing about since Oct. 21, 2021, due to the on-set woes of star-producer Alec Baldwin. In a tragic accident, Baldwin unwittingly shot dead his cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Joel Souza, director and co-screenwriter, caught a bullet in the shoulder. Production came to crashing halt; lawsuits, settlements, and trials came to a boil, then subsided after Baldwin was acquitted. As the hoary showbiz motto goes—"the show must go on.' Filming picked up where it left off.
Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin) is a feared outlaw, in "Rust."
Falling Forward Films
'Rust'
It must be said at the outset—this is a gorgeous movie. Ironically, the cinematography is sublime; the panoramas are sweeping and stunning. Unfortunately, the powerful visuals are sometimes undercut by an orchestral double-bass string section that tries so hard to sound ominous, it tips over slightly into comedy.
Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin) and his grandson Lucas (Patrick Scott McDermott) run from the law, in "Rust."
Falling Forward Films
That might not have mattered if the film's hero had a rumbling, Sam Elliot basso profundo, or a Clint Eastwood snakeskin rasp to match the geography, but Alec Baldwin's tenor, still carrying traces of his native Long Island, New York, isn't the primeval voice needed for a traditional western. Especially if the dialogue is attempting realism in Wild West period-speak. Baldwin is one of the premiere actors of his generation, but even the best can be miscast. That said, he looks the part, and 'Rust,' while chock full of western clichés, is quite watchable.
Story
The focus of the film, and main star, is Lucas (Patrick Scott McDermott), who looks between 13 and 15 years old. On his own after his parents died, he's left with a house, some land, and the raising and defending of his little brother. Evelyn Basset, his great aunt (Frances Fisher), checks in on him once when he's killed a man who was intent on forcing him into slave labor; he's been sentenced to hang. Powerless against the law, she also abandons Lucas.
Evelyn Basset (Frances Fisher) comes to check on her great nephew in jail, in "Rust."
Falling Forward Films
Eventually, the grandfather Lucas never knew he had shows up and busts his grandson out of jail. Granddaddy is Harland Rust (Baldwin), a world-weary outlaw with a reputation for thieving and killing (generally people who needed killing).
Lucas is rightly terrified of this mysterious stranger, but that doesn't stop him from mouthing off in ways that are far too modern for the wild, wild west. Lucas (protesting profusely all the while) flees with his grandfather to New Mexico territory to escape his execution. As the two travel together and share adventures, Rust turns out to be not so bad.
Lawman Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins), a man tortured by the ill health of his own child and his inability to save his son, is in hot pursuit of the runaways. When a sizeable bounty is placed on Rust and Lucas, others join the manhunt, lead among them the evil preacher-turned-bounty-hunter Fenton Lang (Travis Fimmel).
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Style Over Substance
A crowd scene in "Rust."
Falling Forward Films
The screenplay by Baldwin is more or less Kevin Costner lite and the faux western-speak isn't nearly as inventive and expletive-strewn as 'Deadwood.' But it's got all the classic western tropes: homesteading, hog-raising, hard-living, horseback-riding, hangings, high-noon saloon punch-outs and shoot-outs, men getting horse-dragged, local ladies of ill repute, men with faces carved out of old pemmican, and the occasional Native American, of both the American and Mexican strains. The film is long and slow, never boring, but not a standout in the genre.
Whether any viewer can watch 'Rust' without being conscious of Halyna Hutchins' senseless and tragic death is another story. All involved claim to have finished 'Rust' to honor Hutchins's memory. One wonders if that was a good idea, but at least Hutchins gets her memorial. She would have been a Hollywood hot commodity after the cinematography on display in 'Rust.'
Promotional poster for "Rust."
Falling Forward Films
'Rust' was released in theaters on May 2, 2025.
'Rust'
Director: Joel Souza
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Josh Hopkins, Travis Fimmel, Frances Fisher, Patrick Scott McDermott
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 2 hours, 19 minutes
Release Date: May 2, 2025
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
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