Open Range

Rating:
Summary: Simply Inspiring
Review: The law of freedom is something that is written on the hearts and minds of individuals when created. Which the American constitution acknowledges. And it was refreshing to see the "Right to Exist" being enforced in this film. "Law-enforcement" is all too often subject to a tyrants hand. 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Robert Duvall is at his best in Open Range.
Review: Kevin Costner needed to tighten up the script and his direction of Open Range, a good Western that could have been much better if it were a half-hour shorter. The best comparison I can think of for this film is Shane, one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Open Range has the same breathtakiing scenery, classic confrontation between good and evil, fine acting by all the players, realistic action sequences, and excellent supporting music. These merits are enough for me to recommend the film.

Robert Duvall as Boss Spearman, a free-range cattleman who is moving his herd over territory claimed by a local land baron who wants to rid the land of these itinerant cowboys, was wonderful, as usual. Michael Jeter, who died soon after the film was made, is at his best as the owner of the local livery stable. Both these actors may well be nominated for an academy award for their performances. Kevin Costner returns to form as Boss Spearman's hired hand Charley Waite. Like Alan Ladd in Shane, Costner was a gun for hire before signing on with Spearman. When it comes time for the showdown, Costner, like Ladd, is at his very best. Annette Bening is given a supporting role as the sister of a local doctor. She isn't given much to work with, but makes the best of it nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Open Range wanders from one scene to the next and is particularly slow going as Costner and Bening develop their relationship. Costner needed help in the editing room, not only to make sense of the growing love interest between his character and Bening's, but also to add a sense of urgency to the plot development. When two of Boss Spearman's hired hands are attacked and killed or wounded, we know that Boss and Charley are going to take the law into their own hands and bring old fashioned western justice to the guilty land baron and his men. We wait too long for the final showdown. When it comes, it is as good as it gets, and some might say, well worth waiting for.

If it is not Academy Award material, Open Range is still good enough to recommend with the noted reservations.

Rating:
Summary: a poster child for unproductive violence
Review: Alas, I saw this video because of Robert Duval's presence and because I noticed it was filmed in Canada's Rockies. As always, I was glad to see both Robert Duval's acting and the majestic scenery, and the rest of the acting was reasonably good, but wow, was this film ever a waste of good acting and good scenery. The plot is a pretty simple one -- independent good guys (who want to graze their cattle anywhere they please) versus nasty bad guys (who want to uphold private property rights), and unlikely-clueless-guy-woos-and wins-reluctant-and-helpless-damsel-in-distress. Fair enough, but then the film seemed to follow a boring, embarassingly destructive, and almost completely predictable plot line (the only mystery was whether Kevin Costner would kill six bad guys with five bullets or with six). By the time the movie ended I was about ready to scream out, "Don't do it!" when it looked like the "hero" would settle down with the damsel-in-distress.
A totally boring waste of great talent and great scenery. Do yourself a favor and avoid disappointment with this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: A True Western Masterpiece
Review: Open Range is a true masterpiece of the western genre. I found no flaws while watching this film. The acting was of superb quality, the directing inspired, and the story well written. The two heroes of this fantastic tale, a sometimes rash ex-Army soldier (Costner) and a more sensible father-like cowboy (DuVall), compliment each other to perfection. Worthy of mention is Anette Bennings character, Sue. Open Range also exhibits the competency of Costner as a contender in the area of director. The story of this film is a well crafted western tale with true true western magic, complete with gunfighting and the prairie romance. Overall, I give Open Range 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: A Western For Suckers
Review: I was kind of looking forward to this because I am a HUGE western fan and I loved Wyatt Earp and Silverado (other westerns featuring Kevin Costner.) But the film is too slow...Painfully so in fact and it doesn't have much in the way of action. The performances are all pretty weak accept for Annette Bening who is strong in everything I have seen her in. The score is okay...I think it must have been Michael Kamen's last one 'cuz he died this past year I believe. Gets two stars from me for a halfway decent shootout towards the end. I don't mind slow or leisurely paced films in general; especially in the western arena but I at least want them to have a point...In my mind this one didn't at all. It was almost like it was just there to be there...Like a low budget Steven Seagal movie ripping off Lonesome Dove. That's kind of what this felt like. Duvall seems to be going through the motions in this and Michael Gambon is a weak villain who never had a complete hold of his Irish accent. Costner is best in this film when he is shooting of his six shooters. This film upsets me because it is bad movies like this one that keep good westerns from being made. Give me an Eastwood or Sergio Leone film over this crapola any day.

Rating:
Summary: Costner FINALLY got it right!
Review: Costner's direction of the screenplay based on Lauren Paine's classic western novel "The Open Range Men" is a brilliant fusion of the best of Simon Wincer (Lonesome Dove, Quigley Down Under, Monte Walsh) and the late Sam Peckinpaugh (The Wild Bunch, Ride The High Country). Thankfully, too, the Open Range screenplay ignored Boss Spearman's bleak, unjust death in the novel. Costner's portrayal of the self-reliant, taciturn (and ultimately tender-hearted) Charlie Waite, was without doubt his career's best performance. Robert Duvall's masterfully superb, comfortable-as-a-well-worn-pair-of-boots portrayal of Boss Spearman was nothing less than expected and nothing short of classic. Annette Bening's stunningly believable portrayal of Sue Barlow, spinster sister of the town doctor and romantic cornerstone of the film, fit together seamlessly with Costner and Duvall, and was secondary to neither of the two heavy hitters. The balance of the cast was brilliantly assembled with 2 exceptions. And, admittedly, I'm being picky here, because in a film as brilliantly crafted and entertaining and authentic as Open Range those exceptions are not too significant. The role of Baxter the greedy cattle baron was made to order for the late John McIntire, but Michael Gambon was acceptable. Diego Luna was simply miscast in the role of Button. Thankfully his on-screen time was brief. Conclusion: It's great to see quality westerns being made again. If you liked last year's Monte Walsh starring Tom Selleck, Keith Carradine and Isabella Rossellini, you'll be hooked on Open Range.

Rating:
Summary: Duvall is the 'Boss'
Review: What a performance by Robert Duvall. He is meant to be a cowboy and through this script this role was perfect for him. Like Eastwood, Duvall is a cowboy through and through. Costner made a great call on this one. One of the best Westerns I have ever seen.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, definitely one worth buying
Review: Definitely a movie worth owning. Both Duvall and Costner play excellent roles in this film. Great story and a very entertaining movie.

Rating:
Summary: Don't even think about seeing this movie!!
Review: I rarely don't like a movie. This was one of the worst films I have ever been unfortunate enough to see. It's not "slow" or anything else that might justify how aweful this film is, it's just plain unbelievably bad. You'll cry it's so bad.

Rating:
Summary: COSTNER BACK IN FORM IN GOOD WESTERN
Review: Costner has had an interesting career. It's been filled with highs like Field of Dreams and Dancing with Wolves, and lows with Waterworld, the Postman, and The Bodyguard.

The first and last time Kevin Costner directed a western, it was "Dances With Wolves," a three-hour epic that came out of nowhere to revive the genre, take the 1990 Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, and establish Costner as both major star and star filmmaker.

Open Range seemed to come and go pretty quickly in the theatres. Still, I, for one, loved it. It's a gorgeously atmospheric, perfectly cast, beautifully crafted oater of the old school, made with heaps of integrity, no gimmicks and few concessions to the box office. Its only real flaw is that it strains a bit too hard to be a "classic" western.

Set in 1882, it's the story of a pair of affable but vaguely anti-social cowpunchers with dark pasts (Costner and Robert Duvall) who, while driving their herd across eastern Montana, run afoul of a greedy Irish American land baron (Michael Gambon).

It's the old homesteaders-versus-cattlemen formula, only this time it reverses the "Shane" premise so it's the cattlemen who represent the higher qualities of free-spirited individuality, and the evil squatter who embodies the forces that want to ruthlessly fence in the open range.

When the heavies savagely attack the cattlemen's camp, it segues into an epic tale of revenge, an offbeat buddy adventure, an unexpected romance between the Costner character and a local woman (Annette Benning) and, of course, a bittersweet elegy to the passing of the frontier.

Despite a good deal of action, it's rather slow-moving and often rather humorless and grim. In mood, tone and spirit, it's much closer to westerns like "One-Eyed Jacks," "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" than to "Dances With Wolves."

Visually, the movie is a constant treat. Costner and his crew have constructed a wonderfully authentic clapboard town as the main set, they make marvelous use of their other remote Alberta locations, and the cast is stocked with so many unfamiliar faces it almost feels like a documentary. "Open Range" also scores as a star vehicle. Duvall, who gets top billing and the best scenes, is irresistible as only he can be playing a variation of his "Lonesome Dove" character, Gus; and Benning is utterly magical as a prairie-scorched matron desperate for love.

Like most recent Westerns (not that there are an abundance to choose from), Open Range belongs to the "revisionist" category, which is to say that it turns some of the Western conventions upside down. In this film, it's pretty clear who the protagonists are, but they're not morally upright gunslingers wearing white hats. They have pasts that haunt them, and aren't beyond killing for a less-than-pure motive like revenge. Also, the centerpiece gunfight is as chaotic, unpleasant, and gritty as anything ever committed to film. This isn't two people facing each other on a deserted street with tumbleweeds blowing around. It's quick, brutal, and bloody.