Rating: 
Summary: Costner- Far better as a director than an actor
Review: I have always been a fan of Westerns, Clint Eastwood being one of my favorite actors of all time. I always thought it sad that the Western became extinct after the award winning epic Unforgiven. Open Range is an enjoyable Western that hopefully will be the spark for the long awaited return of the Westerns. Unlike other Costner Westerns, Wyatt Earp and Dances With Wolves come to mind, Open Range does not spend 4 hours telling a story that could be finished in 2. Costner shows promise as a director and if he concentrated solely on directing he could possibly be the next Sergio Leone. Robert Duvall steals the screen and quickly becomes the most likeable character with his sincere and sometimes humorous portrayal of an old cowboy who loves the open country. Costner is less impressive, as an actor he has little talent and often gives unemotional performances in his movies, and Open Range sadly is no exception. Nevertheless, the story is solid and Open Range could easily become a contender for best picture of the year, but that may only be contributed to the fact that this year has been awful for moviegoers.
Rating: 
Summary: A film for a mature audience...
Review: If you are old enough to remember and appreciate the time when more than a few movies were concerned with character development, believable plot and scripting that used an intelligent realistic approach to normal conversation, you might be, as I am, very happy to see that someone still knows how to make a great western.
Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner portrayed two individuals who have the courage to do what they believe they must do, even when they knew that they might not live through the conflict. Duvall and Costner are perfectly cast.
The film has all the elements of the greatest westerns. A striking feature of this movie is that Costner (director) had the good sense to let the personalities of the main characters be revealed to the audience slowly through minimal and subtle dialogue, especially in the first part of the film. We get to know what kind of people they are without knowing much about their backgrounds. Slowly we are given more information about each, through brief conversations in which they gradually open up to one another and we understand.
This film is not for children, or even most teens since they are not likely to understand some of the important themes especially with regard to the relationships which develop between the main characters. Kids and teens have been fed a diet of hyperactive glitz and shallow black and white motivations of characters which is quite unlike the careful, realistic actions of the characters in "Open Range."
The gunfight seems authentic in that it isn't a carefully choreographed gymnastic event, but is instead like one would imagine how these fights actually occurred; clumsy and awkward with both sides stumbling, making mistakes and actually taking time to reload weapons.
I have always been sorry that there has never been a follow-up to one of my favorite westerns, "Silverado", in which Kevin Costner called back as they were leaving, "We'll be back!" I had always hoped that that promise would eventually be kept and that they would be back. Times are different now, so a "Silverado II" would probably not work as well as this film. The characters are very different, older, more mature and true to themselves and each other...and to us.
Rating:
Summary: No Home on the Range.
Review: 'Open Range' is 'High Noon' done in color and in 'Lonesome Dove' style. This time the local sherrif is one of the bad guys along with the town's saloon keeper and the rest of the bad guy gang. Duvall and Costner are our flawed, but really 'good at heart' guys. Duvall as Costner's trail 'Boss' is top of his form. Costner is more convincing as a cowpoke or while shooting it out than while mumbling his affection and devotion to an older, but wiser, Annette Benning. No, guys, she does not play the local saloon gal which after such successes as Valmont and American Beauty she could. Benning this time around is a maiden lady who grabs for our attention because she is so very good and convincing in the role. The other good guys who appear early in the film are convincing and comedic. This movie is a lot of fun with more than one serious scene. But be warned - it's a graphic and realistic shoot em up.... The story involves a major and bloody conflict between the Open Ranger Men and the town bad guys. You can guess who wins but not how nor how long those fight scenes go on. There are a few psychological insights from the leading characters along the way along with a good old-fashioned love story. Most of all - it does thrill me to see that the western genre is back!
Rating: 
Summary: Little House on the Prairie meets beer commercial
Review: Perhaps I'm jaded, but this movie seems too earnest too early. Before we've even had time to gain an understanding of the characters, let alone empathize with them, they are speaking in moral platitudes. These characters are ultimately worthy of respect, but this should have been revealed gradually, and through their actions; instead, the early words fall flat and seem sappy. The pacing is almost unbearably slow; this movie easily could have been 30 percent shorter. Very little transpires during the first ¾ of the movie, yet the movie weighs in at close to 2 and a half hours. (And if Costner didn't want to cut more scenes, he could at least have shown the horses running at normal speed rather than slow motion; again the slow motion scene simply occurs far to early in the movie, before we could feel involved, to have any emotional resonance.)
A few positive things can be said about this movie. The acting performances are generally strong, particularly from the three leads. But most striking is the shootout, which is allowed to develop at its own slow pace. While the bullets are fast, the killing is not. The shots sear the atmosphere with the discordant brutality of death'alive one second, gone the next. Unlike in many other westerns, here we see that some bullets miss, which makes us appreciate the importance of keeping a level head and taking one's time in firing. There were a couple surprises as the gunfight unfolded too, which also kept it from feeling too formulaic.
But these are just a couple raisins in a trough of all bran. Good luck getting through this one.
Rating:
Summary: Good Ol' Fashioned Western
Review: "Open Range" is a good classic western that I would say is a cross between Lonesome Dove and Unforgiven. All actors/actresses did a splendid job in their roles but I shy from a 5 star rating because the writers could have done a better job towards the end, which was a bit too predictable for my tastes. I appreciate that the movie didn't go overboard with gratuitous violence and that typical hokey love scenes or romance isn't overdone. This feel-good movie will be added to my DVD collection in the future. See the movie, if for nothing else, the Northern Canadian Rockies are splendidly portrayed on the big screen!
Rating:
Summary: Great Western
Review: Kevin Costner proves that westerns are where he is at his best. This is a great film, extremely well made and acted. Robert Duvall is sensational. The ending is hokey and comes close to undermining the film, but the great performances, great story and great gun fight action sequences make up for the last five minutes.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacking in intensity and drive
Review: This is a Kevin Costner picture. What that means, basically, is that the script gives nearly all the dialogue to Costner, and much of it clumsy and obvious. Also, there are a great number of close ups of Kevin Costner speaking this bad, overly wrought dialogue. The pace of the film is terrible, and the characters are all stock "western" types (especially Duvall). There is no character development at all, and Costner is particularly unbelievable as a natural born killer, further embittered by his experiences in the Civil War. It is much, much too important to Kevin Costner to be liked by the audience to ever bring any authenticity to such a character. He loves to play all his characters with a kind of good natured innocence, kind of a sweet goofiness, and he does it in this film as well. There is nothing about this character that ever convinces me he could kill a man and enjoy it. The film is simply way too wordy, with the film continuing on about three scenes longer than any of the real directors would have allowed. John Ford or Howard Hawks would have left half this film on the cutting room floor, red inked and re-written about half the script, and gotten a different actor to play the lead - one less self-indulgent.
Rating:
Summary: It was okay.
Review: Well, the first thing I noticed about this movie was its beautiful cinematography. Every shot of the open range was beautiful. The second thing I noticed was how lovable some of th characters are, such as the two 'sidekicks' Button (played by one of the leading men in "Y Tu Mama Tombiein") and Mose (I don't know who played him). The third thing I noticed was how the actors and the movie makers portrayed how it is often boring in that area during that time, and how they felt about eachother. There you go, three good things so far. Now, the synopsis is simple. Four men out on the 'open range' and they are just out there to herd cattle, horses, etc. Eventually, certain events lead to them approching a nearby town where the sheriff does not approve of their presence. They get into several verbal quarrles (one ending with Robert Duvall's big speech) and eventually a massive gun fight, which is the obvious climax of the movie. The gun fight was amazing. As far as acting goes, Robert Duvall was the best. He stood out in lovability, for anyone in the audience could not resist his jokes. He played his role as a polite lawbreaker convincingly and very well. Expect him to be nominated for either Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor. Kevin Costner and Annette Benning, on the other hand, I did not like. They were just...boring. Do not expect them to be nominated. Bottom Line: This movie is no where near a Best Picture Oscar nomination, but come for Robert Duvall's wonderful performance and stay for the satisfyingly dangerous (and exciting) gun fight. (I give it a B-)
Rating:
Summary: Open Range - Gotta See It Partner!
Review: Open Range is well worth a Sunday afternoon at the movies. The scenery from the very opening to the very end will have you asking, "where is this place?" I stayed for all of the credits just to answer that question. It was shot on location at Stoney Indian Reservation in Alberta Canada. Absolutely beautiful. Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall are your idea cowboys- rugged but gentle, serious but funny, subdued but passionate and so very handsome. You can't go wrong with a cast like that. Where's my cowgirl outfit?
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Can anyone say brilliant? What a fitting return for Costner after "The Postman". I went into watch this movie after reading negitive reviews, but I was more the happy. Costner and Duvall both give astonishing performances. This is the best movie so far this year!!! I will be very angry and surprised if this doesn't show up around Oscar time. A must see that is set in the old west. Amazing camera work, acting, editing, direction, and story make this just a masterpiece. This is easily the best western since Unforgiven. This is a movie that needs to be. I only hope that since this came out in the summer that it doesn't suffer the same fate as last years "Road to Perdition". Road went on to get a total of six nominations with only one win, and it was the sixth best movie from last year. Keep the word of mouth so that this is not forgotten around Oscar time. See it, and you will be amazed. Don't believe the negative reveiws.
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