Open Range Movie Review:


Open Range -Touchstone-2.8 Stars

Did you know that in the old west it was legal to have your cattle graze for free on somebody else's land? Oh yes but there was one catch. Some large ranch owners took it very unkindly to freeloaders eating up their land and decided to administer their own nasty justice.

Open Range is a story about such a problem and how when talking doesn't seem to solve anything guns will definitely do.

Kevin Costner who also produced and directed this film stars as Charley Waite, a cowboy working for Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) helping move his cattle across the Open Range.

When they camp temporarily on big ranch owner Denton Baxter's (Michael Gambon) land, that's when the trouble begins. He tells Boss and Charley that he wants them to move off his land as fast as possible. They agree but he decides to try and murder them anyway.

It doesn't help that Denton controls the small town near his land and has the local corrupt Sheriff and his henchmen do his dirty work for him.

Little does he know that Kevin used to be a very good gunslinger that shot a lot of people before his current job so it is not going to be easy to get him.

Revenge and justice come into center stage after one of Spearman's men is killed and another is badly injured by Denton's thugs.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Charley and Boss decide to kill those responsible including the main Denton.

As the film builds to the big shootout finale, Kevin falls in love with the doc's sister and tries to do the right thing when it's time to decide who deserves to die.

It's another western about a tough good guy with a troubled past who just wants to be left alone to mind his own business but the bad guys won't let him.

The big fight to the finish has its moments but is never allowed to really deliver with excitement and thrills. The film takes a somewhat more realistic approach to the old west making it perhaps more believable but sacrifices momentum. I guess, Kevin forgot about that part while making the film. It worked better with Dances With Wolves but this time he misfires.

Although very dry and predictable, the movie has good acting, some funny lines and clever dialogue delivered in an extremely unhurried way.

You also get beautifully filmed vast landscapes that could be made into lovely postcards or a nice slide show.

Watching Open Range is like trying to run fast through thick knee high mud. The hardest task in viewing this film is keeping awake waiting for something to happen.

If you are into a very slow burning western that's a bit romantic mixed with some cowboy gun play and you have the patience of a person trying to teach an elephant to swing dance than Open Range will tame wild horses for you.

Otherwise, This film will enable you to catch up on much needed sleep.

Gil Benzeevi

The epic-western has always been at the heart of Hollywood obsession. Hollywood continues to brush away the cobwebs and reinvent the fading genre. But like the lifestyle it represents, the western is patient, persistent and passionate when it finally hits close to home.

Kevin Costner has had a rough road leading up to his latest directorial project, “Open Range”. Costner has been heralded as the “The King of Bombs”, “Mr. Baseball” and sadly a has-been. Costner is due for a comeback and his journey back to the prairies for some redemption could be at the centre of that plight.

“Open Range” tells the story of two career cattle-drivers, Boss (Robert Duvall) and Charley (Kevin Costner) who stop to rest with their two friends, Button (Diego Luna) and Mose (Abraham Benrubi). Running short on supplies, Boss sends Mose into town to fetch some supplies but after 2 or so days Mose doesn’t return. Boss and Charley become concerned so they leave Button with the cattle and journey into town.

In town, Boss and Charley run into the town’s twisted Sheriff Poole (James Russo) and his benefactor, Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon) as they try to get Mose out of jail. A feud erupts between Boss and Baxter when Baxter preaches about the town’s hatred of “freegrazers”. When Baxter finally attacks trying to push the men from his land, it seems to be too late for Boss and Charley. With their backs are up against the wall, Boss and Charley have to face Baxter and his onslaught of men. Is it justice or vengeance? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

Kevin Costner’s “Open Range” deals with a lot of “western” philosophy. There are sweeping picturesque pans of the high prairie. Boss and Charley are grizzled and seem to embrace their occupation with little remorse of their decisions. They are a symbol of the simple and practical way a cowboy is. Costner sculpts “Open Range” in the same light as the philosophy of the genre itself. His scenery and laid-back feeling we get from our heroes is the purist form of what makes a western. But when it comes time for change, they are as bull-headed as the cattle they drive. And being forced to change becomes a baptism of flame and blood.

Costner serves up a lot of things to cherish in this film but doesn’t give them the proper foundation to support the kind of epic he could have. Costner emulates a lot of classic and brilliant westerns with almost every shot. There is a lot of influence here from “The Searchers”, “High Noon” and even “Unforgiven”. Costner knows the genre but he needed a deeper story. There are so many subplots unexplored and one was even abandoned. The one abandoned is probably the most aggravating in the whole project. We see that Costner’s character has either an illness or weakness. Two scenes use this minor subplot as their catalyst but the final resolution or mystery is never really explored. One scene finds Costner’s Charley bending over maybe in pain as he tells his comrade to get out from behind him. The second involves Costner seeing things and drawing a gun on his beloved Sue (Annette Benning). Maybe it’s just me but I find these scenes puzzling. Is he ill? If so is it serious? How will this affect his future?

The crowning achievement in the film is the long-drawn out gun battle. The battle is real and holds back no punches. There are plenty of bullets flying and hardly any hit people but you really have to see that this is probably the way a real gun battle is. There is no acrobatics, spinning and shooting or incredible aim here. There is a lot of realism in the battle. I liked seeing this kind of gun battle. The battle is forged and fought within the confines of the plot and feeling of the film. This gun battle and a lot of the second half of “Open Range” is great filmmaking.

The performances in “Open Range” reminded me a lot of previous westerns. Duvall’s Boss is so like his beloved Gus McCrae in “Lonesome Dove” I almost thought people in the film were calling him Gus instead of Boss. Gus McCrae is alive and well in Duvall.

Costner’s Charley reminded me some of Clint Eastwood’s William Munny in “Unforgiven”. Charley has the same reluctance but knows its going to get bloody as they search for justice. Charley is haunted by demons like Munny. Please don’t get me wrong, each actor is superb in each role but just couldn’t help but see the similarities.

There have been so many comparisons between this film and “Unforgiven”. I don’t believe that this film is in the same league as 1992’s Oscar-winning “Unforgiven”. It has a lot in common but no where near as powerful, dark or alluring. What is strange is that the film poster for “Open Range” even in some ways looks like the poster for “Unforgiven”.

“Open Range” is a flowing western in the spirit of a great John Ford western. But I found the film dragged quite a bit and didn’t have the depth required to make this genre compelling. I have to herald Costner for his return to the genre and that this film is a great step forward to regaining past glory.

(3.5 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

Actor-director Costner returns to his Dances With Wolves glory days for another sprawling period epic. Harking back to classical Westerns, with a subtle but integral twist, film is intriguing and clever enough to keep us gripped, even though nothing very surprising happens.

Boss Spearman (Duvall) is a free grazer--driving his herd of cattle across the open range with his three hired hands: veteran sidekick Charley (Costner), dopey-chubby-loyal Mose (Benrubi), hothead-teen Button (Luna). But the times they are a-changin', and the avaricious landowner (Gambon) in a nearby town doesn't like these freeloaders stealing his grass! So he sends some hired goons to rustle them up. In their confusion and anger, Boss and Charley realise that they're now headed for a high-noon confrontation in Main Street. But before that happens they find a few local allies, including a jittery livery owner (Jeter) and a woman named Sue (Bening) who nurses their wounds ... and clearly wants to do a whole lot more with Charley.

This is a pure, corn-fed Western, full of the kind of dialog these uneducated people would really speak. This is a remarkable achievement for screenwriter Storper, even if it sounds a bit goofy and sweet to our ears. There's not a whiff of cynicism--from constant shots of cute dogs to adorable sparks of desire between Charley and Sue. That said, the film is never sentimental or saccharine; if anything, this cow-poke charm makes it feel strangely realistic. Meanwhile, Costner does everything he can to otherwise turn the genre inside out, using vivid colours and witty set pieces, then inverting the standard premise so the interlopers are the good guys. He also stages and photographs the climactic shootout in a startlingly edgy way that puts us right in the middle of the confusion, but never loses us. Performances are quite good, although everyone seems a bit too relaxed (with the exception of the late Jeter, who clearly had too much coffee between takes). And in the end the only problem with the film is that it doesn't really have much to say, besides a gentle comment on corporate greed and being open to change in life. Nothing wrong with this, but after two and a half hours, you kind of hope for something a bit more powerful to go home with.

Rich Cline

When local rancher Denton Baxter (Gambon) does take kindly to free grazing cattle herders crossing his land and decides to send out a warning by killing one of the herders and seriously injuring another, he makes an enemy of the wrong men. Boss Spearman (Duvall) and his partner Charlie Wait (Costner) decide to forgo the law and bring their own kind of justice down on Baxter and his men.

Kevin Costner returns to the genre that brought him so many accolades and finally gives us a good movie.

Costner has only starred three really good movies since winning all those Oscars for Dances with Wolves in 1990 (JFK, Tin Cup and Thirteen Days) and his directorial follow up, The Postman was instantly forgettable, so a return to the western was really the only option to kick start his floundering career. The good news is that Open Range is Kevin back on top form.

This slow, simmering potboiler spends the entire first act and much of the second, building story and character until the pressure builds to the point that it boils over into the climatic shootout. This meandering build up is a slight hindrance in getting to the inevitable ruckus and the movie could have profited from some scenes heading to the cutting room floor but this doesn’t deter you from your enjoyment of the film.

As you’d expect from three stellar leads, the performances are first rate. Robert Duvall brings his usual class and distinction to the movie with another commanding performance. This is a character that is full of dignity and demands your respect, meaning Duvall fills those shoes exactly. The man just never gives a bad performance and this movie is no exception to that rule. Kevin Costner plays Charlie Wait as a man who believes in doing things right but is consumed by the guilt of the deeds he committed in a former life. This is a role that Costner can excel in as we see the character change from a mild-mannered cattle herder into an unyielding gunslinger. Annette Bening does appear on the big screen often enough but when she does her roles always grab your attention. Her character Sue Barlow is a strong willed woman that could have been very easily clichéd but Bening brings a certain amount of decorum and grace to the role making her that much more believeable.

The support is also good with Michael Gambon playing a good villain and the late Michael Jeter proving the comic relief. Young Mexican actor Diego Luna continues to show the promise that was so abundant in the 2001 indie hit “Y tu mamá también”.

Open Range is an old style, by the numbers western that is a real return to form for Kevin Costner. As a director he has a real eye for the grandeur of the West and shots it magnificently. It may be slightly overlong and slow in the first and second acts but the final show down is well worth the wait.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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