First Cow

First Cow

This is an art house movie which generates a small box office but gets numerous nominations and accolades (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 95). It has the feel of a documentary and the pace is very slow. The cinematography  is unimpressive and  the visual scenes  monotonous.

The film takes place in the 1820’s in the northwest territory, it is referred to as historical fiction. The essence of the film is the friendship between two strangers. One is a Chinese man who is running away from a murder he committed   and the other character is a cook named Cookie. One day Cookie see a girl walking with a small buck of milk. Cookie tells his partner he can make small cakes with the milk which they can sell. They call them oily cakes and they are instantly popular making them money (the cakes are like the zeppoles at the San Janeiro festa on Mott street) . Food in the wildness is bland and repetitive so the cakes are a popular treat. The milk comes from the first cow in the territory and at night they steal  milk to make their cakes. For the rest of the story is they are pursed by men of cow’s owner. Apparently stealing milk is a high crime in the wildness.

The acting is passive. Aside from the milk cow theft there is no real action. Except for two Indian women there are no female actors. The two recognizable actors are Toby Jones (Truman Capote) and Scott Shepherd (Die Hard) who have supporting role. I am unfamiliar with the protagonists , which means nothing or diminishes their performance. I watched this movie twice since the first time I feel asleep and missed some key  scenes.

Why am I writing this review? In case you want to see film  (VOD on Amazon) I  want to give you a heads up. The film gives you the milk but no cookies.