Hatfields & McCoys

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The scene opens in the midst of a battle in the Civil War. Two Confederate soldiers are fighting side by side and what's left of their outfit gets away and are camped for the night. In the middle of the night one of the soldiers is up in the night getting his horse ready to ride. He is confronted by another soldier who asks him what he thinks he's doing. The reply? "I'm quittin'. We ain't winnin' anyways. I've had enough." Soldier Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield then rides off leaving Soldier Randolf "Randall" McCoy staring in disbelief that a comrade would desert.

That scene may be entirely fiction in the remarkable mini-series produced for the History Channel entitled Hatfields & McCoys. But from everything else I've read about the USA's most infamous feud, the rest of this story is uncannily accurate. I began watching it on Netflix and was blown away; I watched it all within about a 12 hour period of time. A friend recommended it and I am so glad he did.

Hatfields and McCoys stars Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton. I have to admit right up front that I was never much of a Costner fan. He was just plain hokey-awful in JFK, and forced and awkward in The Bodyguard. I think even Field of Dreams could have been better with someone else. He just gave one crummy performance after another until Wyatt Earp. And more recently in the film Open Range. Folks this guy has finally found his genre (westerns) and he is one of the greatest of all time in it. And anybody who knows me knows I love "cowboy movies". I would not make a statement like that if I didn't believe it.

Bill Paxton here is also wonderful. His experience in Tombstone was not wasted - and although this actually is not a western, it is still very westernesque. Both Paxton and Costner bring a depth to their characters that was intense. So much so that as a viewer it was impossible to pick a side in the feud.

This miniseries lets us feel the pain and sense of utter loss that both families felt during this feud that lasted from 1863 until officially ending in 1904. Yes they were hard drinkin' hillbillies, but they had wives and families and lots of children that they cared about and wanted to protect.

Besides Costner and Paxton, the whole cast was fantastic starting with Mare Winningham as Randall's wife Sally. Mare turns in yet another of her patented quiet, unassuming, wonderful performances. Sarah Parish played Levicy Hatfield, the wife of Devil Anse and she made us feel Levicy's pain.

A Romeo and Juliet type theme runs throughout most of the mini-series between Johnson "Johnse" (pronounced 'Jonce') Hatfield (Matt Barr) and Roseanna McCoy (Lindsay Pulsipher). And although it seems a bit contrived and too convenient for the storyline, it is historically accurate. In fact I did some research on the feud and this mini-series was spot on, thanks to the brilliant screenplay masterfully written by Ted Mann and Bill Kerby. They wrote it with the simple beauty of the language of the time, kept it flowing, interesting, and they never lost the rhythm....hats off to the film editors too.

This story is compelling not only because of what it became, but it should be used to illustrate that sometimes the smallest insignificant things can have powerful results. (I was reminded that a prisoner broke a rule, cooking a can of soup in a way that he was not supposed to, and it eventually became the infamous Attica prison riot). In this case, a stolen pig, a bad judicial ruling, and a mysterious shooting led to decades of death and hatred.

This was an amazing piece of television, a medium that is slowly becoming the place where all the great work gets done. The locations were perfect. The costumes seemed honest. I don't like it when the viewer is trying to suspend disbelief and get into the story and then a prop or costume reminds you that this is a production. A few things I did notice, however, was that everyone had pretty perfect white teeth, and most of the women had neatly groomed contemporary eyebrows.

I'll bet this work gets big buzz and accolades at the next Emmy Awards. It will quite a battle between House of Cards and Hatfields & McCoys. (I know that there are lots of other contenders too.) But I love a season when so many truly remarkable things all deserve a nod.

Hatfields & McCoys gets a great big recommendation from me.