MO Humanities: Ride with the Devil (1999)

The Story of Us: Missouri Through Film is a series featuring films that are culturally important to Missouri in general, and the Ozarks in particular. This FREE series is sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council and presented in partnership with Drury University. There will be a discussion following the film with a member from our Springfield community.

Set during the Kansas-Missouri border war, the film follows Jake (Tobey Maguire) and Jack Bull (Skeet Ulrich), who join the Confederate-sympathizing Bushwhackers after Jack Bull’s father is killed by abolitionist Jayhawkers, and find an unusual ally in Holt (Jeffrey Wright), who’s fighting for the South despite being a former slave. A rumination on identity and loyalty, both political and personal, Ride with the Devil is a provocative challenge to preconceptions about America’s bloodiest conflict. [Criterion]

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jewel, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Ang Lee
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, War