A former cook (a brilliant turn from John Magaro) travels to the Western Oregon frontier to join fur trappers; lonely, isolated and without much connection with the men around him, he ends up connecting with a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) being chased by Russians for murder. A wealthy British landowner's (Toby Jones) prized milking cow has the two men sneaking to the millionaire’s house at night, milking the cow, cooking their own buttermilk cookies at home and setting up shop at the market. The dessert treats are a hit. Lines start to happen on a daily basis. Plenty of people are turned away due to the goodies selling out. Soon after, the landowner comes to the market to inspect the latest shops; he tries the buttermilk treats and, like every other person in the village, instantly falls for them. A business proposition is offered.
“First Cow” is very much a Kelly Reichardt movie. That will be the deciding factor as to whether or not you want to give this movie a shot. Reichardt, Bless her maverick heart, is one of the great American filmmakers of the last ten years, what with a track record that speaks for itself ("Wendy and Lucy," "Meek's Cutoff," "Certain Woman") and a contemplative, minimalist and distinctive style that is meant to isolate mainstream audiences. With "First Cow" Reichardt is returning to the old West of ‘Meek,’ by loosely, very loosely, adapting Jonathan Raymond’s novel “This Half-Life.” It’s a hard movie not to respect, melancholic in nature, as it tackles male friendship, companionship, at the frontier.
If it does feel slight at times, the setup is meant to test the viewer’s patience for eventual and multiple dramatic payoffs — it slowly but surely sneaks up on you and gets you invested in the fates of its two lead characters. However, there isn’t enough meat to its bones to make it a Reichardt standout, much like her 2013 film “Night Moves,” the assured and meticulously planned mise-en-scene can sometimes feel a little on-the-nose to have the stunning impact of her first-rate works. [B-]