Ride with the Devil is a 1999 American Civil War drama directed by Ang Lee. The film starred Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and folk/pop singer Jewel. It is based on the novel Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell and the screenplay was written by James Schamus. The events depicted in the book and film take place in Missouri amidst an escalating guerilla war.
Production and reception
The scenes of the Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, Kansas were filmed in Pattonsburg, Missouri. Pattonsburg was flooded out during the Great Flood of 1993, and the town was relocated leaving the empty buildings and homes available.
The film was intended to be a summer blockbuster, costing over US$35 million to produce (a large sum for most Westerns). However, despite majority positive reviews by film critics it received negative press after screenings because of the portrayal of a Black Confederate guerrilla by Jeffrey Wright in a role based on Free Black John Noland who rode with Confederate raider Quantrill.
Controversy surrounding events depicted in the film is at odds with the factual nature of guerilla warfare in Missouri during the Civil War. Historical accounts, such as Jasper County, Missouri in the Civil War (1923) by Col. Ward L. Schrantz, document the warfare depicted in the film.
The film was released on around 140 screens in the U.K. for a limited run and made barely over £100,000. It was then released without any promotion on eight U.S. screens for a limited run of only three days (January 20-22, 2000) fetching only $64,000.
The scheduled home video release of the movie was delayed four months so the distributor could alter the cover art and remove Jeffrey Wright’s image from the front video and DVD and as of 2003 had yet to turn a profit.
Cast
- Tobey Maguire as Jake Roedel
- Skeet Ulrich as Jack Bull Chiles
- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Pitt Mackeson
- Simon Baker as George Clyde
- Thomas Guiry as Riley Crawford
- Mark Ruffalo as Alf Bowden
- Jewel as Sue Lee Shelley
- Margo Martindale as Wilma Brown
- Zach Grenier as Mr. Evans
- Tom Wilkinson as Orton Brown
- Jeffrey Wright as Daniel Holt
- James Urbaniak as Poker Player
