Ride with the Devil is a 1999 American Civil War Western film directed by Ang Lee. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by James Schamus, based on the book Woe to Live On, by Daniel Woodrell.
The events portrayed in the novel and film take place in Missouri, amidst escalating guerrilla warfare at the onset of the American Civil War. A loose dramatization of the Lawrence Massacre is depicted. Tobey Maguire stars as Jake Roedel, a Southern militiaman, who joins a group of marauders known as the Bushwhackers. The gang attempt to disrupt and marginalize the political activities of Northern Jayhawkers allied with Union soldiers.
The ensemble cast also features Skeet Ulrich, Jeffrey Wright, Jonathan Brandis, Jim Caviezel and musician Jewel.
The film was a co-production between Universal Studios and Good Machine. Theatrically, it was commercially distributed by the USA Films division of Universal. In 2010, The Criterion Collection released a restored high-definition digital transfer for the home media market. Ride with the Devil explores politics, violence and war.[3]
Following its limited release in theaters, the film failed to garner any award nominations for its acting or production merits from accredited film organizations. On November 23, 1999, the original soundtrack was released by the Atlantic Records label. The score was composed and orchestrated by Mychael Danna and Nicholas Dodd. Singer-songwriter Jewel also contributed a musical track from her second studio album Spirit.
