First Cow

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

Good movie!

This film start with a woman digging the skull, and a man "Cookie" searching things to eat in the forest scene! As turnout, this film is about Cookie and a Chinese "King-Lu" start of a selling oily cakes business with the milk they stole from Chief Factor's cow! Entire film too slow, and full of boring conversation! The overuse of the walking, and milking scene, also make the film unwatchable! Barely intense scene is, a bunch of intruders destroying King-Lu's house! At the end, Cookie and King-Lu rest in the forest, and waiting to escape with the money they earn together! That's it! Wasting time to watch!

I appreciate the thoughtful reviews of those who found value to this movie, but for this viewer it was a trying experience. It's very dark in terms of lighting, as some pivotal scenes are virtually impossible to see. There's a huge disconnect with the way the story opens and what it's eventually all about, so don't go looking for continuity there. The principal characters, once things settle down, are an immigrant fur trapper (John Magaro) and a Chinese wayfarer (Orion Lee) who hook up by accident, and with no other resources available to them, decide to team up to make a go of it in the 1820's Oregon wilderness. The title of the picture directly relates to the introduction of a cow into the territory by a wealthy trader, and it's jarring each time it's mentioned that the animal lost her 'husband' on the trip over from England. Who talks like that? Essentially, Otis 'Cookie' Figowitz (Magaro) and King Lu (Lee) team up in an enterprise of surreptitiously stealing milk from Chief Factor's (Toby Jones) prize cow and using it as an ingredient in making baked goods that they trade for money at the local fort. This worthwhile venture into capitalism is disrupted when one night, Factor's servant discovers their endeavor, and the chase begins to hunt down the malefactors. Separated while on the run, the pair eventually team up again down river, and the story ends abruptly when the injured Cookie requires some rest and both men fall asleep in the woods. At that point the end credits roll, and the sequel to the movie is left to the viewer's imagination. If you've never heard of a clafoutis, you'll learn at least one thing watching the movie. And if you don't, no use crying over spilt milk.

In one scene, there's just one idiotic choice after another made by the characters... honestly, no normal person would be so idiotic as what was shown in the film, and that makes for a large plot-hole as far as realism goes (this particular scene happens at night, perhaps you'll know which one I mean). There's also several other plot-holes in the film, that once again deals with the characters in the film making extremely illogical choices, but since I have not read the book that this film is based on, I can't say if that is indeed the way that the story unfolds in the book, or if the director of the film simply took some very idiotic creative-license when they directed the film. Either way, the film is OK. It's not great, or good, it's just OK. You can watch it if you don't have anything else to watch.

Oregon territory. 1800's. "cookie" hooks up with king lu. they strike it rich making fried dough. stealing milk from the only cow in town is their sin. they pay. that's it folks. it doesn't sound like much, but it definitely has the feel of "mccabe and mrs. miller". a warren beatty film from the 70's. anyway, it's very atmospheric and it's like being there. not for action buffs. but if you love movies, go.

If you've ever seen a Kelly Reichardt film you know the well-regarded director is in no rush to get her audience anywhere fast or in particular, as she instead lets her camera linger on her characters and setting, well and truly the less is more approach to narrative storytelling. Since her debut with 1994 effort River of Grass, Reichardt has steadily plowed away across her career with character driven dramas that will either have the audience in a trance like state of anticipation or others struggling to stay awake as things ever so slowly transpire in front of their eyes. With her newest effort First Cow, Reichardt doesn't change her style in the slightest in adapting Jonathan Raymond's book, as we follow John Magaro's Cookie and his new business partner King-Lu (played by the films MVP Orion Lee) deep in the woods of the early American Oregon frontier where they search for fortune but settle for a small-scale business venture that sees them stealing milk from the areas sole cow. The film feels and and breathes like its from the era it is set in, there's no flashy Hollywood style over substance here, this is a muddy and lived-in woodlands set tale that is further enhanced by Reichardt's stoic directing and 4:3 aspect ratio but while its alive in this sense of time and place, there's very little energy or enthusiasm coming from its tale or characters that feel as though they had a lot more to give. There's nothing wrong with small and intimate character study's that act as metaphors to much larger explorations of the human condition and our history but First Cow constantly feels as though its beggining to be something more, something that never eventuates, never more so evident than in the relationship between Cookie and King-Lu as friends and business associates with Magaro and Lee doing fine work but finding themselves unable to escape the shackles of a film that doesn't let them fly free. It's a hard film to hate, you can sense that Reichardt and her crew poured their love into this A24 distributed drama (one that I'm sure they will be promoting come awards season) but there's not a lot to love here as our central friendships, characters and story slowly plod along to a destination that never eventuates into a finale that makes it all truly worth your while. Final Say - A sure-fire hit with Reichardt fans, First Cow continues on with the form and product that has made her name but this snail-paced drama feels as though it had more to give with a bunch of colorful characters and situations that feel only half-explored. 2 1/2 broken branches out of 5

A story about two outcasts who find friendship and a business partnership with each other in the American frontier. John Magaro plays a gentle baker who begins the movie as cook for a prospecting expedition. He's too thoughtful and sensitive to really fit in with the macho wild men he's with, who bully and threaten him. Orion Lee is a Chinese immigrant who befriends him and suggests that they go into business selling the baker's biscuits at a local trading post. The biscuits are a sensation, but the enterprise is a dangerous one -- the only place to get milk is to steal it from the cow (yes, THE cow, not A cow) that belongs to the local aristocrat, played by the always welcome Toby Jones. The film begins in the present day with a hiker in the woods discovering something that hints at how the movie will end, and how the movie then circles back to that find is a small miracle of narrative storytelling. Kelly Reichardt, who's made a career of quiet, understated films, remains true to form here. "First Cow" shows much more than it tells, which should please fans of art house fare but will probably frustrate more casual moviegoers who have less patience for the way stories are told. The two main characters don't talk much, but we learn much about them, not from what they say, but from how they act. The first time we see Magaro's character, for example, he's hunting for mushrooms in the woods, and he takes the time to set a salamander he finds back on its feet when it's struggling to flip itself over. And when Lee's character shows him to his cabin in the woods, the first thing Magaro does is find some wildflowers with which to decorate the small space. Little flourishes like these reward the patient viewer, and we come to like the two men so much that the end, though we've been warned of it in advance, feels that much more tragic when it comes. Covid has seen to it that 2020 hasn't exactly been the most robust year for movies, but of movies that have been released so far this year, "First Cow" is one of the best I've seen. Grade: A