Ride with the Devil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ride with the Devil

Promotional poster for Ride with the Devil
Directed by Ang Lee
Written by Daniel Woodrell (novel),
James Schamus (screenplay)
Starring Tobey Maguire,
Jeremy W. Auman,
Scott C. Sener,
Skeet Ulrich,
Glenn Q. Pierce,
Kathleen Warfel
Release date(s) 1999
Running time 138 min
Country United States
Language English
IMDb profile

Ride with the Devil is a 1999 American Civil War drama directed by Ang Lee. The film starred Tobey Maguire, Jeffrey Wright, 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 negative press after screenings. It was released on around 140 screens in the U.K. and made barely over £100,000. It was then released on 8 U.S. screens fetching only $64,000. It immediately went to video and DVD and as of 2003 had yet to turn a profit. The film has since been critically re-evaluated, and is seen as a significant work in the career of Ang Lee.

It is based on the novel Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell and the screenplay was written by James Schamus.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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" or "border ruffians" – informal units 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 guerrilla tactics and hide out during the winter months. Jack and Sue Lee (Jewel Kilcher), widowed 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 by William Quantrill, make a raid into Lawrence, Kansas. In the midst of the raid a quarrel arises between Jake and fellow bushwacker Pitt Mackeson (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). For the remaining part of the film Jake fears for his life. Towards the end of the film the two meet again. Pitt tells of their mutual friends who were hanged in Dover, Kansas, and in a roundabout way Pitt tells of his intentions to meet a similar fate in his nearby hometown.


Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.