If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, or even watched enough movies from that time, you inherently trust that Ed Harris knows his shit. He saved the world in The Abyss, saved some heroic astronauts in Apollo 13, saved Jim Carrey from discovering the truth (at least for a little while) in The Truman Show; Harris is so synonymous with ruthless efficiency that his very presence in Pain & Gain tells you that the doofus criminals don't stand a chance against him.
January Jones is… none of those things. But from the looks of this trailer for Sweetwater, which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the Mad Men and X-Men: First Class star is giving badassery a shot, playing a former prostitute who takes up frontier justice when her husband (Eduardo Noriega) is killed by a ruthless, possibly insane preacher (Jason Isaacs, looking like even more of a violent loon than Lucius Malfoy). Harris, who's nearly unrecognizable in that crazy white wig, is the sheriff who's hot on her tail, and he may have some weird secrets of his own. Indiewire, who first posted the trailer, refer to him as a "renegade," and in the trailer you can see him twirling int he street and admitting he's "unusual." Sounds like a major understatement from where we stand-- and a really fascinating spin on the "Ed Harris as competent badass" trope we're so used to.
Sweetwater has been picked up for distribution in some countries but not in the United States, meeting the weird fate that sometimes happens even for film festival picks that feature name-brand stars. Reviews from Sundance were mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it "handsomely designed, occasionally funny but ultimately empty female vengeance yarn." But they also credited Sweetwater's Sergio Leone nods, and just a few months out from Django Unchained, you would think audiences would be happy to see another modern spin on the spaghetti Western. With this trailer out there, it's possible producers are trying to drive up audience interest and get a distributor to bite. So speak up-- they might be listening! Do you guys want to see more January Jones vengeance where this came from?
