Rating: 
Summary: Well, at least Matt Damon is pretty!
Review: Watching this movie I get the feeling that somehow there was a really great movie filmed here, but somehow that's not what made it into the final cut... Never the less, Matt Damon is, as usual, pretty fabulous - if only his entire performance was included in the film! I rented this first - and ended up buying it just because I enjoy watching the talented Mr Damon....If you have a bad case of "Damon-itis" buy it - he's wonderful even if the movie is not.
Rating: 
Summary: They've found a cure for insomnia...
Review: I bought this movie with high expectations, knowing that Billy Bob Thorton is an excellent director and Matt Daemon is by no means a bad actor. This movie was a huge dissapointment, it would cure anyone from a long spell of insomnia. It seemed that not very much effort was given into devoloping any of the charactors, and there was no excitement to be found.
Rating: 
Summary: The Only Good Actors Where the Horses
Review: I'll say this. If you watch this movie first, then read the book, you'll wonder just what the heck the author was bribed with to allow his creation to be depicted this way. This movie fails because of the foremost problem in all book-to-movie conversions: the story speeds past your eyes as fast as cars of a freeway. I would attribute the cause to this is obvious: books are long and screenplays and movies have constraints of length and time. Unfortunately, it seemed that those two factors lead to this movie's downfall. Story: The story is like this: boys get sick of Texas, flee to Mexico, get in trouble, fall for pretty horses. Even with the constraints of trying to jam all the elements from the book to 2 hours, that's no excuse for the method they chose to do so. Basically, you feel no compassion at all for the characters. The love between Damon and Cruz's characters is unbelievable. There was no foundation, no evolvement, no nothing. Literally, they shared a look, rode horses together and boom! these two are in love. And they're scenes together were so limited, it seemed so much as fake than real. Basically, they're love developed through numerous muted scenes of them running around and playing like 12 years olds. THAT'S IT! And all the sudden, he's so much in love that he does what he does?!(Don't want to give away the story folks). That's so unbelievable it would make you scratch your head a million times before you realize the ending credits were the most interesting part of the film. Damon's character seemed to have been more in love with the dang horses than with Cruz's character. If his actions in the movie were because of the horses, then yeah, I'd believe it. But Cruz's ain't no horse and they got more character development than she did. Directing: It seem Billy Bob tried to put things in the movie that only he though made sense. Thing is, he forgot (a lot!) to clue us in two what the heck we were seeing. There was once scene were Damon was standing near a man. A cut scene occurs where this man for some reason is dancing like a loon, the next he cuts to what he was normally doing. The point? I asked myself that question until my fingers got numb from all the rewinds. And that basically carries for most of the film. Fortunately they didn't over due ridiculous scenes as that. I suppose the editor actually wanted to keep his job afterwards. The only really good scenes in this movie were not scenes at all, but the background. When the two leading characters at the beginning of the movie are heading through the open unclaimed lands of Texas, I really wanted to jump into the picture and yell "YE-HAW!!" Too bad the movie wasn't about the background. Conclusion: The movie is rushed. The filmmakers were stuck with trying to fit as much in as possible, only to really leave yourself with a "what?" expression on your face. I would suggest reading the book first before having it spoiled for you. Once you compare the two I think you'd be righting your own reviews minus a few stars above your title.
Rating:
Summary: Absurd Casting!
Review: "All the Pretty Horses" suffers from a bunch of problems in particular its choppy editing and slow moving direction. But its biggest problem is its casting. Despite their boyish faces, both Matt Damon and Henry Thomas are too old to be playing the teenaged protaganists of Cormac McCarthy's book. The characters of "John Grady Cole" and "Lacey Rawlins" are supposed to be ages 16 and 17 respectively, and Damon and Thomas are both pushing 30. A 30 yr old man living in Texas in 1949 would probably be already married, have his own place, and be a WWII vet, and thus would not be running off to play cowboy south of the border after mommy sells off his grandfather's ranch! The miscasting really harms the believability of the movie. It really gets silly when Robert Patrick makes a brief appearance as "Cole's" war shattered father. Robert Patrick's character must have been 12 yrs old when he became a father! It's understandable why Damon and Thomas were cast- they are both credible actors and Damon is a highly bankable star. So in a way one can understand the producers not wanting to entrust a big budget "serious" picture to unproven teenaged actors. However, the best performance of the film is without a doubt turned in by an actual teenager- Lucas Black who plays the enigmatic, troublemaker "Jimmy Blevins." On the other hand, the worst acting job is turned in by Penolope Cruz as the love interest. Ms Cruz seems to think that looking beautifully at the camera is acting. It isn't. Unfortunately for Ms. Cruz, her reputation as being the weak acting link in everyone of her movies is going to catch up with her one day. But until her beauty starts to fade, audiences are going to be stuck with Ms. Cruz just like they were stuck with Ali McGraw back in the early 70's. (Ali McGraw= a stunningly beautiful woman, but absolutely hopeless as an actress. Basically, McGraw was the Cruz of her day.) I gave "All the Pretty Horses" three stars because of the beautiful cinematography, the nice score by country artist Marty Stuart, and my own weakness for westerns. Despite playing characters they're almost 15 years too old to play, Damon and Thomas are both very likeable actors and so I enjoyed their performances. And I really enjoyed the performance of Lucas Black, which is the most noteworthy thing about the movie. Overall, "All the Pretty Horses" is a blase movie which is worth a look only when its on TV and there is nothing else of interest on.
Rating:
Summary: The Book is So Much Better
Review: There are some very good books that simply do not translate well into movies. This is one of them. I loved Cormac McCarthy's book, "All the Pretty Horses," so I thought I would love the DVD as well but I found it supremely boring, something that is definitely not the fault of Cormac McCarthy or of Billy Bob Thornton, the film's director. Cormac McCarthy is an author whose stories need to be read. His prose is both lyrical and harrowing and even though his books have a lasting emotional impact, they make that impact in a quiet sort of way. This movie was visually stunning, really beautiful and that's the best thing I can say about it. While the coming-of-age story worked well in the book I think it needs McCarthy's beautiful prose in order to make it work. In the movie version, the story was almost completely flat and boring, totally devoid on any highs and lows, any energy and fire. The acting was truly abominable in this film. Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz, in particular, were just dreadful. I often thought they couldn't have been worse had they tried. While Cruz's Alejandra was a woman of depth and spirituality in the book, she was a mindless [fool] as portrayed by Cruz. Damon was simply too old to play the part of John Grady Cole. Mercifully, there was little dialogue in this film. What there was was delivered with no emotion whatsoever and the sound quality was so terrible that all the lines were garbled. While I certainly wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone but an incurable insomniac (or someone who just wants to look at gorgeous desert shots), I do think Cormac McCarthy's book is wonderful and I do applaud Billy Bob Thornton for attempting to create new inroads in the Western genre. Had this film worked, it would have been a triumph. As it is, it is a failure. A beautiful failure, but a failure, indeed. I give it one star for the gorgeous cinematography and one star to Thornton for his originality. The Western is changing and some day soon Thornton will succeed. He's too good not to.
Rating: 
Summary: All the Pretty Horses
Review: I really liked All the Pretty Horses. The way that Coramac McCarthy takes you on this adventure with comedy, and falling in love with the daughter that forbidden love. The way that McCarhty takes you on this rugged and adventure and lets you in on this adventure that 3 men take on is just incredible. When McCarthy puts the pictures in you head id just magnificent.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing film gets extra star for photography
Review: How could All the Pretty Horses miss? It is based on a respected book by award-winning author Cormac McCarthy. Its director, Billy Bob Thornton, and its star, Matt Damon, are also award winners. Yet the movie falls short. One reason is that it follows the novel too faithfully, and the result is a screenplay that jumps around. It cuts from one incident to another too abruptly. This technique works in a book but not in a movie. The other reason is that the movie, with its vast panoramas of the earth and sky, is one that is best seen on the big screen. Much of the impact is lost when viewed on television. Though it takes place in 1949, All the Pretty Horses is still very much a Western. Young John Grady Cole [Matt Damon] sees his world change forever when his mother decides to sell the ranch that's been in the family for generations. All Cole ever wanted to be was a rancher and a cowboy. He convinces his best friend Lacey [Henry Thomas] to go with him to Mexico to find work there. [Cole speaks fluent Spanish.] Soon after they have ridden over the border, they encounter Jimmy Blevins [Lucas Black], a teenager who is riding a horse he obviously couldn't have afforded to buy. He claims it is his, but, fearing the kid is trouble, Cole and Lacey try unsuccessfully to shake him. When Blevins' horse is stolen, they decide to help him steal it back. Afterwards, they lose track of Blevins for a while. They wind up working on a vast cattle ranch. Cole wins the approval of the owner when he proves to be an expert in breaking mustang horses. Cole also catches the eye of Alejandra [Penelope Cruz], the landowner's beautiful daughter. They fall in love, and this and other events get Cole, Lacey and Jimmy into very deep trouble. Matt Damon gives a thoughtful and nuanced performance. Though he is certainly is a star, he does not work for me as a romantic lead. His scenes with Penelope Cruz are well played, but they lack the chemistry necessary to make us believe this is a relationship the two lovers are willing to give up anything for. Lucas Black, who has worked for Billy Bob Thornton before as the young boy is Sling Blade, is exceptional as Jimmy. He reminds me of the young Leonardo Dicaprio. I hope he choses his future projects more carefully than Leo D. has lately. I wish I could give All the Pretty Horses a higher grade because it is an obvious labor of love. The plot continuity is just too ragged to justify doing so. Still, it is a handsome picture and not at all a bad way to spend an evening.
Rating:
Summary: Skip the passe film and read the excellent book
Review: Here's the deal. While the movie was not completely horrible, it was definately not the type of caliber that a film based on a book so wonderful should be. Then again, tampering with a wonderful book often ends in tragedy. I should be writing a review on how wonderful the book (by Cormac McCarthy) is but you probably know that the book is usually better than the film. Some people do like this film and I say they can have their opinion but having read the book, there are several things about the film that are flawed. First of all, while Matt Damon is not a bad choice for the lead role, he is way too old. In fact all three of the main parts are too old. In the book, John Grady Cole is SIXTEEN (Matt Damon is about thirty) and Lacey Rawlins and Alejandra are both SEVENTEEN. The actors are way too old for the parts. While a beautiful young woman, Penelope Cruz conveys none of the deeper feelings Alejandra had in the book. Her eyes seemed to hold more vacancy then depth. Finally, the film which runs around two hours is hardly long enough to convey the wholeness of the 302 page novel. A movie would honestly have to be about three hours or even more to really do this well. One effort I found enjoyable though was Lucas Black's performance as Jimmy Blevins. I found him to be exactly as I imagined him to be. But alas some good performances cannot save a film so full of holes as this one. So before you go and spend three bucks on renting this, go to the library and read the excellent book - for free. It'll take a little longer but believe me it's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic & Superb Mid 20th Century Western
Review: Excellent, I figured this would be a love story but I was wrong. This show has all elements. It's a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: Cowboy Poetry
Review: This is the best western film I have ever seen with the exception of the original series of "Lonesome Dove." It portrays the difference between loyalty to the land and loyalty to the dollar, between cowardice and love. The story is simple but timeless and deep, played out slowly like the guitar chords of a sad old song. Visually, it's exquisite. I haven't been as moved by anything with a cowboy theme since I read Buck Ramsey's poem "And as I Rode Out on the Morning." This film is poetry; a Romeo and a Juliet in cow country who take us to the place of youth; a sad lament with bitter lessons that ends with the offer of a new beginning. It cuts to the bone. I loved it.
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