When rancher and single mother of two Maggie Gilkeson sees her teenage daughter, Lily, kidnapped by Apache rebels, she reluctantly accepts the help of her estranged father, Samuel, in tracking down the kidnappers. Along the way, the two must learn to reconcile the past and work together if they are going to have any hope of getting Lily back before she is taken over the border and forced to become a prostitute.
Acting
Blanchett's raw desperation, Jones playing against his own myth.
Cinematography
New Mexico landscapes that swallow characters whole.
Direction
Howard ditches sentimentality for something genuinely unflinching.
Director
Ron Howard
Cate Blanchett
Maggie Gilkeson
Tommy Lee Jones
Samuel Jones
Evan Rachel Wood
Lilly Gilkeson
Jenna Boyd
Dot Gilkeson
Aaron Eckhart
Brake Baldwin
Val Kilmer
Lt. Jim Ducharme
Eric Schweig
Pesh-Chidin / El Brujo
Steve Reevis
Two Stone
Jay Tavare
Kayitah
Simon Baker
Honesco, Kayitah's son
Ray McKinnon
Russell J. Wittick
Max Perlich
Isaac Edgerly
Elisabeth Moss
Anne
Clint Howard
Sheriff Purdy
Rance Howard
Telegraph Operator
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Ron Howard's deliberate attempt to break from his crowd-pleasing reputation after A Beautiful Mind, and audiences largely rejected it.
The source novel 'The Last Ride' changed significantly—originally the father was already dead, making the reconciliation arc entirely Howard's addition.
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