Rhune
ForumsNet Administrator
    
 
Gender: 
Posts: 292
|
 |
Review: Fine filmmaking on the 'Open Range'
« on: Aug 19th, 2003, 2:34pm » |
 Quote  Modify
|
Review: Fine filmmaking on the 'Open Range'
Costner Western a winner
By Paul Clinton
CNN Reviewer
Thursday, August 14, 2003 Posted: 3:49 PM EDT (1949 GMT)
(CNN) -- For some reason, whenever Kevin Costner is involved in either a Western or a baseball flick he seems much more at ease, more believable than in any other genre ... for example, say, science fiction (see "Waterworld" or "The Postman").
With "Open Range," set in the 1880s, he's back in the saddle in the Wild West, or at least the very end of the Wild West, before barbed wire changed the face of the country.
Costner plays Charley Waite, a hard-bitten, old-fashioned cowboy whose way of life is quickly disappearing, as ranchers begin to fence in their land and open-range grazing for free-lance cattlemen starts to disappear.
Robert Duvall plays his grizzly friend and partner, "Boss" Spearman, who -- along with Waite and two other cowboys, "Button," played by Diego Luna ("Y Tu Mama Tambien"), and Mose Harrison, played by Abraham Benrubi (best known for his role on TV's "ER") -- are slowing driving a herd of cattle across the open range.
All four men are basically loners; all have pasts they'd like to forget. But when they enter the small frontier town of Harmonville to stock up on supplies, they find their very lives -- not to mention their way of life -- threatened with extinction.
Man of hatred
The town is controlled by a ruthless cattleman, Denton Baxter, played by Irish actor Michael Gambon ("Gosford Park").
Baxter will use any means -- including murder -- to keep the town under his thumb. He also harbors a deep hatred for "freegrazers," and sets his sights on destroying Charlie, his friends, and his cattle herd.
At first, the cowboys find only a couple of allies in the hostile town.
The late Michael Jeter, in one of his last performances, plays Percy, a stable owner who befriends Charlie and Boss. Annette Bening plays Sue Barlow, the spirited and beautiful sister of the town's doctor who dares to defy Baxter by caring for the "freegrazers" after their various confrontations with the rancher's hired gang of crooked lawmen and thugs.
Of course, Charlie and Sue fall in love, and he soon goes off to face the bad guys and possible death.
One thing you can say about Costner's career (and many things have been said over the years): he is one of the few movie stars whose leading ladies are usually age-appropriate. Susan Sarandon in "Bull Durham," Mary McDonnell in "Dances with Wolves," and now Bening are all of a "certain age" -- an age that often means playing the mother, not the love interest. Michael Douglas, are you listening?
(Now, off-screen, the two men are much more alike: Douglas is married to the much younger Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Costner's real-life fiancee, Christine Baumgartner, is only 29. But I digress.)
Good acting boosts tale
"Open Range" is full of images of strong, silent cowboys and the great open vastness of the West. The story romanticizes what was an extremely difficult life and underlines it all with classic conflicts over freedom, justice, love and honor. It is, without doubt, in the mold of the classic Hollywood Western.
Be warned, however: the story begins very slowly as we are guided into the lives of 19th-century cowboys and their long boring days driving cattle across hundreds of miles of empty land.
But once the boys hit town and the wonderful Bening makes her first appearance, things start moving right along. Duvall is without a doubt one of the finest character actors in the business, and his name on a film is always a good sign. (OK, let's forget "Gods and Generals.") In this film, Duvall's character is tailor-made for the craggy actor, and he looks like he was born sitting on a saddle.
This is the third time Costner has both starred in and directed a film. The past results have been, to say the least, uneven. He won a best director Oscar for "Dances With Wolves," but he was almost driven out of Hollywood after bombing big time with "The Postman" (1997).
"Open Range" is not in the same league with "Dances," but this compelling drama stands on its own as one of the best films of the summer.
"Open Range" opens Friday, August 15, and is rated R.
|
Home
Help
Search
Members
Chat
Member Map
Login
Register
Reply
Add Poll
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print