The Trackers

The diverting if muddled latest from Frazier (Cold Mountain) blends a Depression-era travelogue with a noirish star-crossed love story involving an artist and a Wyoming rancher’s wife. In 1937, earnest young artist Val Welch arrives in remote Dawes, Wyo., on the WPA payroll, to paint a mural on the wall of the local post office. He’s taken in by wealthy rancher John Long and his wife, Eve, who has recently settled down after years roaming the country as a hobo and later as a nightclub singer, and whose beauty captures Val’s heart. But Eve, feeling trapped by her cosseted new life, soon takes off, and John sends lovelorn Val on a cross-country journey to find her, trailed by another man who may or may not be Eve’s first husband. Frazier is a gifted stylist, and his gritty portrait of America in the depths of the Depression rings true, as do the character details—a razor-wielding villain adds to the danger around femme fatale Eve. Unfortunately, the mélange of genres and a curious lack of romantic chemistry between Val and Eve (Frazier never establishes what Val sees in Eve besides her looks) drains the emotional power. There’s fun to be had, but it’s not Frazier’s best. (Apr.)