Rating: 
Summary: Stunning epic western
Review: Billy Bob Thornton continues his promise of filmmaking excellence after Sling Blade with this hauntingly beautiful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's celebrated novel. Finding himself without a home after his Hollywood-bound mother sells the family's Texas ranch, Matt Damon travels down to Mexico with best friend Henry Thomas to find work and a place to stay. The vistas are gorgeous and the poetry that is created by Thornton's excellent mix of musical score, photography and subtle editing make it one of the very best films this year. Damon's performance is unforgettable, while Penelope Cruz as the love interest is unfortunately not (which is okay because she makes up for it in Woman On Top).
Rating: 
Summary: Really a disappointment
Review: Billy Bob really botched this one. Cormac McCarthy's amazing and epic book deserved much better. Overall, the acting is spotty, and why he would choose someone from Boston to play Grady Cole, a Texan, is beyond me. Barry Pepper would have been a better choice for the lead. Anybody would have been better than an overrated Matt Damon. The outdoor scenes are all shot during the middle of the day, in pale lighting, and the mystique of the southwestern desert landscape that Cormac so eloquently captures on print is lost on film. The cinematography leans more toward a made-for-TV look than film. Marty Stuart provides a slick, polished country music gloss to the soundtrack, when a better band like Calexico, from Tucson, could have provided more haunting and appropriate accompaniments. Hopefully someday a more promising director like Alejandro González Iñárritu or Christopher Nolan will get the rights and give the book the treatment it deserves. Stick to B-movies and Bad Santa sequels Billy Bob!
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Authentic
Review: Given how disappointingly liberal, preachy, trite and predictable so many of Hollywood's dramas are, this film presents both tremendous moral balance and a wonderful ease of presentation, all the while offering up one surprise after another. It's as if this film was shot nearly at the time it was to have happened; so clean, real, and spare is the spiritual atmosphere surrounding the characters. Whether the lead characters' authentic, highly believable progress through the story, a simply fantastic performance by young Lucas Black, or the spot-on cameo by a very able Bruce Dern, this film exposes Western sensibilities (even in the mid 20th century) to perfection - Billy Bob Thornton deserves credit for making a beautiful sleeper of a film far too realistic, too believable, and too traditional to ever win a second glance from the Hollywood crowd. See it, and if you're like me, own it for it's simply riveting social and historical placement.
Rating: 
Summary: All the Pretty ZZZZZZZZZ's
Review: In an interview on "Oprah", Matt Damon said he wished he could make "All the Pretty Horses" forever. To the audience, it almost seems like he did. The film is sort of like the Energizer Bunny -- it keeps going and going and going and going and just when you think it's going to end, something else (often incoherently) happens to extend the film another ten minutes. The running time may amount to roughly two hours, but it feels much longer.I have not read Cormac McCarthy's novel on which the film is based, but I have seen enough film adaptations to know that the transition is not always smooth. However, I can't say who should take the blame, McCarthy or director Billy Bob Thornton, for the overlong plot or underdeveloped characters. Technically a western, the plot is not so much incoherent as it is boring. Matt Damon and Henry Thomas play John Grady and Rawlings, two west Texas cowboys with nothing left at home, so they set off to Mexico, where a variety of complications ensue. They meet a scrappy 16-year-old named Blevins (Lucas Black) along the way. He suggests that he did something bad to his abusive stepfather, and John Grady and Rawlins know that the beautiful horse he's riding can't be his. But the audience never really finds out much more. Polite people would say it adds to his mystery. In reality, Blevins's character, like nearly every other character, is a victim of over-editing. After his horse runs off in a thunderstorm, John Grady and Rawlins help Blevins steal it back, something that comes back to haunt them. They eventually end up working on a Mexican ranch. John Grady meets the ranchers beautiful daughter Alejandra (played flatly by a boring Penelope Cruz) and decides he's fallen in love with her. Basically, the relationship consists of John Grady ogling Alejandra like a piece of meat while Alejandra looks coyly at him. You don't believe him at all when he tells her, "I'll love you till the day I die," and Cruz turns what didn't have to be a thankless role into that of "the love interest". Thankfully, John Grady and Rawlins are hauled off to a Mexican prison for aiding Blevins in stealing his horse before we're subjected to any more of the alleged lovers mooning over each other. Grady and Rawlins meet up with Blevins again, who this time is accused of murdering three people. I suppose I shouldn't give away the end, so you'll just have to find out what happens for yourself, if you manage to stay awake that long. This film seems to be a victim of too much editing and too little characterization. The actors show a great deal of potential, but they are never given the chance to develop their characters into something interesting and worthwhile, so you ultimately do not care about them. Furthermore, the plot is so full of holes that it obliterates any chance for consistency. Director Billy Bob Thornton has shown his ability to make offbeat, original films in the past, but he doesn't really show anything special in this film. Perhaps a director's cut will reveal something new. To its credit, the cinematography is absolutely beautiful and the spare yet poignant soundtrack fits the setting extremely well. It is unfortunate that the other elements (acting, directing, writing) could not be incorporated into what could have been a decent film.
Rating:
Summary: a total snooze
Review: If a movie could ever be used to prove the existence of entropy, "All the Pretty Horses" would definitely be it. Here is a film so devoid of energy and momentum that it seems to be not a movie at all but a succession of still images fading in and out of each other at an enervating pace. Put simply, as director, Billy Bob Thornton has made a world-class snorer out of Cormac McCarthy's best selling novel, for, indeed, rarely has an adventure story seemed so lackluster in its pacing, so inert in its narrative momentum. The characters even seem to talk in muted whispers, as if they were afraid to violate the atmosphere of profundity that surrounds the project. All that would be fine if the film actually had something profound to say. Unfortunately, this is a pretty shallow story filled with deeper meanings hinted at but never explored and characters who are never given the screen time to grow into fully developed people in their own right. Matt Damon and Henry Thomas star as two Texas cowboys who head to Mexico looking for adventure and en route end up befriending a disturbed teenager, working as horse wranglers on a tycoon's ranch and even spending time in a Mexican penitentiary. In its bare boned outlining, this plot seems rife with possibilities. However, it is difficult to overestimate just how tediously it all plays out on screen. For one thing, the motives for many of the characters' actions remain murky at best, partly, I feel, because the authors rarely seem to know where to best concentrate their focus for maximum clarity and effect. The quirky and enigmatic teen, for instance, who has the potential to be the most interesting character in the story, disappears through large chunks of the film, so that poor-as-dirt Damon, in one of the oldest plot devices known to man, can play footsy with the tycoon's beautiful, dark-haired daughter. The movie tries to imply that the rich man feels hurt and betrayed by Damon's romancing of his daughter because he has grown so fond and trusting of the young man. Yet, we never really see that bond developing. We are simply told it exists and are expected to react accordingly. This is the case with much of the film. Despite the movie's near-two hour running time, we never feel like we get to know or understand any of these characters. The landscapes are pretty, but the deadly pacing of the film destroys our interest even in THEM. Ultimately, the film feels unformed, as if it were nothing more than a series of unrelated incidents arbitrarily strung together in a pointless slow-moving jumble. Maybe the pretty pictures (and even the "pretty horses") and the charisma of Matt Damon will be enough to keep your interest at peak levels for the duration of the film. Just be forewarned, though: movies don't get much more soporific than "All the Pretty Horses." My advice is to keep a pillow handy.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a movie that is faithful to the book
Review: It's a shame that Billy Bob Thorton and Co. had to cut so much from this movie. After two hours, I felt as though I could stand another two. This movie is an excellent rendition of Cormac McCarthy's novel, and remains very, very true to the book. The acting is nearly flawless, especially that of Matt Damon (John Grady Cole), Henry Thomas (Rawlins), and Lucas Black (Blevins). The directing was great, the scenery and landscape all very beautiful. That having been said, I must include the comment that I wish this movie had not been edited so much. Having read the book, I could easily follow the story of the movie, and enjoyed it thoroughly. My wife, on the other hand, has not read the novel, and was completely lost throughout despite my attempts to piece together the scattered fragments for her. This flaw (and a large one it is) makes it difficult for this movie to have widespread appeal. Unless you've read the book, plan on being confused most of the time. Still, this movie is well worth seeing, even if you have to read McCarthy's novel first so you can understand it.
Rating:
Summary: Moving and beautiful
Review: Story was moving and the scenery was expansive and beautiful. The love story seemed artificially inserted, but probably made it more popular. Honed to the story of the young men and their explorations both geographical and psychological, it would have benn a tighter and more crafted production. BUT, it is better than so many other films and the acting is superb.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: I found this to be a very underated movie!
Rating:
Summary: More action with horses, PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Review: This DVD was extremly boring. My mom and I bought it thinking it was going to be full of horses, but it isn't! We are both avid horse lovers and it was a big disapointment. They spend more time with everyone giving each other "loving" looks. To sum it up there's too much time spent gazing at each other and not enough spent with horses! Why didn't they just call it "All the Pretty Women"?
Rating:
Summary: Matt Damon gives a phenomenal performance
Review: But there was no chemistry on-screen with co-star Penelope Cruz who seemed like she was catatonic through the whole thing.
The scenery was beautiful. The screenplay didn't do the story justice, it didn't move along well. But it was wonderful and Mr. Damon's performance was significant. I never thought I liked him as an actor before, but I will definitely see more of his work now.
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