OPEN RANGE

Director: Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves, Waterworld, bit of an acting career as well)
Starring: Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Annette Benning, Michael Gambon

I found Open Range to be an interesting and beatiful western, although imperfect in many ways. It has an old-timey feel to it that makes it all the more fresh given the sorts of westerns that have been produced in the last thirty years - which is not to take away from those films, many of which are excellent. This tone to the film may have been the most intriguing quality, but there was much else that was quite good, especially the acting and cinematography. Robert Duvall is a standout as Boss, an open-range cow herder. Few actors give such consistently excellent performances. Kevin Costner, as Boss' employee and would-be disciple, and Annette Benning as Costner's poorly constructed love interest, are certainly acceptable in their roles. The surrounding performances of the other bit characters was also notably good. They were what really made this world come alive.

The faults in the movie lay in the story construction. Benning's character is understandably, if inadequately, forced into this story. The entire love aspect of the plot has its moments, but generally seems ackward. Other portions of the screenplay don't flow particularly well, but since so much else was very well done, it doesn't detract as much as it might from the film. All in all, this was a pretty darn good western with good guys and bad guys. There is a struggle between morality and necessity, as land owners seek to do away with Boss' free range cow herding lifestyle, and a rowsing gunfight in the end. This will never be a classic, but I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable film to just sit back and let yourself be sucked into.

Standouts: Tone and atmosphere (director Costner) and Robert Duvall
Blowouts: Awkward script at times. It has the feel of corporate suits tacking on a love story.

Grade: B+