Ride with the Devil
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Ride With the Devil is a 1999 civil war drama directed by Ang Lee. The film starred Tobey Maguire, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and folk/pop singer Jewel. The film was meant to be a summer blockbuster and it cost over US$35,000,000 to produce (a large sum for most Westerns.) However, it received pans and negative press after screenings. It was released on around 140 screens in the U.K. and made barely over 1,000,000 pounds. It was then released on 8 U.S. screens fetching only $64,000. It immediately went to video and DVD and as of 2003 has yet to turn a profit.
It is based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell and the screenplay was written by James Schamas.
Plot Synopsis
Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire) and Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich) are friends in Missouri when the Civil War starts. Jack Bull's dad is killed by Kansas union "jayhawkers." The two boys join the Missouri irregulars known as Bushwhackers; men loyal to Missouri, not willing to fight someone else's war in Virginia. They meet George Clyde (Simon Baker), and his former slave Daniel Holt (Jeffrey Wright), whom he granted his freedom. They battle using guerilla tactics and hide out during the winter months. Jack Bull and Sue Lee (Jewel Kilcher), the daughter-in-law to the man that is hiding them become lovers. When Jack dies in a skirmish, Jake escorts Sue Lee south to a safe farm. The Bushwhackers, led Quantrill, make a raid into Kansas. Throughout the raid a quarrell arises between Jake and fellow bushwacker, Pitt Mackeson (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). For the remaining part of the film Jake fears for his life. Finally the two meet where Mackeson tells of their mutual friends who were hung in Dover, Kansas, and in a roundabout way he tells of his intentions to meet a similar fate in his nearby hometown.