The Last of the Mohicans

Based on James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, The Last of the Mohicans follows Daniel Day-Lewis’ Hawkeye as he attempts to escort two sisters (Madeleine Stowe’s Cora and Jodhi May’s Alice) to safety during the 18th century’s violent French and Indian War. Filmmaker Michael Mann kicks of The Last of the Mohicans with a muddled and mostly baffling opening stretch that makes little effort to capture the viewer’s interest and attention, with the almost total lack of an entry point compounded by one-dimensional, scarcely-developed characters and a visual style best described as muddy (ie it really does feel like the bulk of the picture transpires in confounding darkness). It’s consequently not surprising to note that the picture, for the most part, comes off as a fairly interminable slog, and there’s little doubt, as well, that Mann’s inability to effectively develop the growing infatuation between Day-Lewis and Stowe’s respective characters exacerbates the pervasively uninvolving atmosphere (ie there’s ultimately just nothing here to get wholeheartedly or even partially invested in). Day-Lewis’ unusually flat performance certainly does nothing to alleviate the predominantly tedious vibe, nor does the prolonged, frustratingly anticlimactic stretch that closes the proceedings – with the end result an often aggressively meandering and underwhelming adaptation that possesses little in the way of compelling attributes.

* out of ****