Over the past three nights, History aired its original miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys," retelling the story of a feud that escalated between two families in post-Civil War Appalachia. It stars Kevin Costner as "Devil Anse" Hatfield and Bill Paxton as Randall McCoy (Randolph McCoy in real life), the patriarchs of their respective families, as well as Tom Berenger, Jena Malone, Mare Winningham, Matt Barr, Powers Booth, Lindsay Pulsipher, Andrew Howard, Boyd Holbrook, and Ronan Vibert.
Something of note; the miniseries reunites Costner with director Kevin Reynolds, who he worked with on "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and "Waterworld," during the production of which the two had a feud of their own that resulted in Reynolds abandoning the project and not speaking to Costner for years after. Reynolds' direction is not unlike much of his previous work on period pieces such as "Prince of Thieves" and 2002's "The Count of Monte Christo." Extended scenes, often involving revealing diagalogue between two characters, are interspersed with suspenseful action sequences and brief snippets, which last no longer than necessary, that explain something pertenant to the plot or provide historical insight about the setting.
If contrived drama, gimmicky cliffhangers and suckerpunch plot twists are what you seek, prepare for disappointment. Writers Tedd Mann, Bill Kerby and Ronald Parker pull no punches in staying true to the sequence of historical events surrounding and pertaining to the feud and the fates of each of those involved in it. Mann, Kerby and Parker only embellish where stories may conflict or facts are unclear, perhaps erring on the side of intrigue rather than probability, but then again fact is often more interesting than fiction, so any exaggeration or speculation on their part may be justified. There are also some added details carefully inserted to enhance the visibility of themes without distorting the overall story or making it unbelievable. The dialogue, while rich in weighty statements of both hateful foolishness and wisdom and accented with memorably humorous and bad-ass one-liners, also attempts to reflect the period in which the series is set. Imperfect grammar and outdated phrases convey the worldviews of the time and place, making the story all the more convincing.
While the burning hatred between Anse and Randall is believably reaffirmed, their family members stoke the embers with their own disputes amongst each other and the patriarchs themselves. Anse's uncle, Jim Vance (Berenger), kills Randall's brother, Asa, over a drunken insult. Asa's daughter, Nancy (Malone, whom I never imagined playing a femme fatale), devotes her life to getting revenge on Vance and the Hatfields by any means necessary. Randall's snaky cousin, attorney Perry Cline (Vibert), tries to swindle Anse's land and timber rights (the source of his wealth), but rather than legally suing him with damning evidence, Anse coerces Cline into signing over his own land to spare his reputation. These actions are only the beginning of the deceit and malice wrought by these semi-vice characters. All three actors portray these saboteurs quite impressively, and enough so that the audience despises them and anticipates their demise. (Spoiler: We only get the satisfaction of one of their deaths on screen.)
As stated before, others outside of the two families enter into the fray, most notably "Bad" Frank Phillips (Howard, who gives a terrifically menacing performance). A ruthless gunman, Frank uses the feud to profit both financially, from the bounties on the Hatfields offered by the McCoys, and professionally, to elevate himself to the position of sheriff. Although well-portrayed, the character is somewhat one-sidedly bad, as are Malone's Nancy McCoy, and Vibert's Perry Cline. Nancy's motives are given enough explanation to make her believable as an historical person, while Frank and Perry come off as ficticious creations. Don't get me wrong, I love a good villain, but if I'm to praise historical accuracy, I have to question the place of black-as-night villains in a portrayal of history.
Despite the actions of Frank Phillips, Jim Vance, Nancy McCoy and Perry Cline, who all seem to form their identities around the feud, it is ultimately the attitudes about justice of Anse and Randall, along with their authoritative decisions as patriarchs of their families, that steers the direction of the conflict throughout the story. Anse's approach to seeking justice by his own means rather than legally, despite his brother, Wall Hatfield (Booth), being a judge contrasts with Randall's trust in human institutions of law and faith that God will deliver him from his enemies as long as he upholds a higher standard of morality than the Hatfields. And while both Anse and Randall both believe that they are simply making things "even" with each act of retribution toward one another, it is ultimately the eventual intercession of institutional justice and divine providence that bring the bloodbath to an end.
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