chaswe-28402 Dynamic action, riding, shooting and killing, for about the first half hour, even though I couldn't properly tell who was who, but then it seemed to slow down and peter out into nothing much, involving a lot of tediously uninteresting talk. What a relief to read the negative reviews, and note the low rating. I was afraid I was missing something, since I couldn't be bothered to keep watching after the first hour or so. Nothing seemed to happen, at considerable length. I skipped a lot, and it still felt as if I'd seen everything. I registered a baby and a shotgun wedding.Maguire, who was playing the lead character, because of his manner and the shape of his face and eyes, seemed to be half asleep most of the time. Several of the characters were shown either sleeping, lying down, or just waking up, dressing or undressing. They were difficult to tell apart. Maguire didn't appear to initiate any action: things were simply happening to him. The sound was bad on my disc, and there were no sub-titles to help me discover what was going on. After the violent opening, the whole thing became passively pointless and slow. What was the meaning of the title ? Rave reviews on the disc cover.

powermandan The title "Ride With The Devil" sounds like it would be a pretty scary movie eh? The only scary part was how brutally violent the flick was. The movie is able to find the right mix of action and emotion. Having said that, it is hard to classify what genre this is. Western? Drama? Action? Just as a scene is build-up with action, it switches to being dramatic. You may also feel a bit cheated at the end. The key words are "a bit." The constant changes are done so well with such good acting and such a good script, you really don't care. Hence the key words "a bit."During the Civil War, two lifelong friends (Maguire, Ulrich) bear witness to their family being killed by Union soldiers. They join a group of rebels known as the Bushwackers that fight then hide. A beautiful young woman (Jewel) comes to their aide and becomes lovers with Ulrich. When Ulrich dies, Maguire takes her to a home and has second thoughts about fighting for his life.Maguire leads a star-studded cast that sparks interest. The action makes the movie fun. The deep character development and dialogue make the movie unforgettable.

zetes A Civil War epic about the Missouri-Kansas conflict. Tobey Maguire stars as a Dutch immigrant who joins the guerrilla side of the Bushwhackers (Confederates) against the Jayhawkers (Union). This film is beautifully produced, but not very engaging for much of its run. Maguire in the lead doesn't help at all. He can be a decent actor in the right circumstances, but he doesn't fit into the Civil War that well. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon were both considered for the role, and Damon, in particular, would have been great in it (I think DiCaprio was still kind of a weak actor at the time, though he would have been better than Maguire). The film gets a bit better as it goes along, particularly when the main thrust of the story, the relationship between Maguire and a black man fighting on his side (Jeffrey Wright) emerges. Then there's the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, which is a fantastic and horrifying centerpiece. Wright gives a fine performance, but my favorite performance in the movie belongs to Simon Baker, who plays Wright's master. Yes, Jewel co-stars. She might be the reason that no one took this movie seriously when it first came out, but she's not half bad, really. The film is baity as Hell and even has a Jewel song during the end credits, over-ripe for Oscar glory.

denis888 Ang Lee is a cool filmmaker and he knows his craft. But here, he stepped into Ronald Maxwell's territory of Civil War and romance. And he failed in many areas. This long, tedious movie plods much too often and at times is simply very vapid. Heroes talk, shoot, talk, curse, shoot, die, talk, love, shoot, die, walk away. We saw it before. Not every filmmaker can do good in this fairly huge scope of a history, and Lee is simply rushes through the very uneventful and prosaic script, adding some brutal scenes of looting and murder, some romantic clichés, some beautiful nature, some unexciting dialog, some promising moments... and fails. Toby Maguirs is not good as a main character, he lacks depth and often looks weak. Jewel is no good choice, either, she probably can croon, but play she ain't. James Caviezel, Tom Wilkinson and John Rhys Meyers are a bit better, but they do not save the mediocre film from being just another attempt to make a grand drama of love and war. Utterly forgettable and rather slow, often simply dead and bland, this movie is no achievement. Maxwell could have made this same script a spellbinding masterpiece. It takes a different man, sometimes