Inspiring the film 'Ride With The Devil' directed by Ang Lee

Set in the border states of Kansas and Missouri during the American Civil War Ride with the Devil explores the nature of lawlessness and violence through the eyes and thoughts of Jake Roedel. During the winter of 1861 Roedel grows up quickly experiencing a brutal, lawless parody of war without standards or mercy. Woodrell's colloquial dialogue seems to suggest a connection between the America of the 1860's and the present day.

Ride with the Devil is a renegade western in the style of Thomas Berger's Little Big Man that celebrates the genre while at the same time bushwacking some of it's most celebrated traditions.

Ride with the Devil has been filmed by Ang Lee (The Ice Storm, Eat Drink Man Woman, The Wedding Banquet, Pushing Hands). Co-screenwriter with Ang Lee is James Schamus (as above). The film stars Skeet Ulrich (Scream, As Good As It Gets), Tobey Maguire (Pleasantville, The Ice Storm), Jeffrey Wright (Angels In America: Perestroika, Basquiat) and in her feature film debut, pop star and poet, Jewel. The film's co-stars are Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Michael Collins, The Velvet Goldmine), Simon Baker-Denny (LA Confidential) and James Caviezel.