Open Range - A Review August 18, 2003
MPAA rating: R
runtime: 135 minutes
The classic Western isn't dead yet! Kevin Costner not only produced and directed this highly anticipated film, like his landmark Academy Award-winning piece Dances With Wolves, he is also an actor in it. He has helmed several failures since DWW, but has returned to the genre with an excellent new movie – Kevin knows Westerns! With screenplay penned by Craig Storper from the book The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine, the cast includes:
This elegant and steadily paced film tells the tale of four men - Boss, Charlie, Mose and Button as they free-range Boss' herd of cattle from one locale to another in search of good grazing. They mean no harm to anyone, and try to live as decently as they can. By this time, free-ranging has fallen out of favor in parts of the West, as more and more prime grazing territory is taken over by the big ranching concerns. They fence off the land in order to horde its resources for their own use – whether they need them or not. Boss, Charlie and the others run afoul of one extremely militant rancher (Baxter) who also, just so happens to have the local law (Poole) in his pocket. Needing medical attention at one point, they encounter Percy the blacksmith and Sue Barlow, the beautiful, warm and strong lady of the local doctor's house.
Being the producer, director and star – once again making his own movie - Kevin Costner did something that I find extraordinary. He took a step back and away from the lead in this film. He installed Robert Duvall as the primary focus of this story – sort of a first among equals - and that single step in itself practically guaranteed us a wonderful film. Duvall took the character of Boss and poured most of his earlier role of Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove into it. He softened a couple of Gus' rough spots for the role of Boss and hardened a couple of softer spots into fierce edges and gave us another character we'll long remember in Western cinema. Charlie is a quiet, almost taciturn man with a long-buried past that hints of shadows and violence. He is a man outside, one that looks for better things, but can never touch them. He respects and follows Boss, all the while trying to lead the young Button by example and hard knocks. Button is a youngster trying to live a man's life, not sure if he is man or boy, not sure of his path. Mose is the giant, gentle, soft-hearted cook, going about life with a smile and an encouraging word.
I found very little to be critical of in this film. Shot in Panavision/Super35, the film is shown using a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The color palette is full, deep and well-balanced with almost none of the mood filters so prevalent in Hollywood productions of the last several years – the exception being a couple of nighttime scenes in a saloon that have a noticeable, but not intrusive yellow/brown tint. Filmed near Calgary, Alberta, Canada, many of the outdoor scenes are long shots, framed to take advantage of the huge blue-sky canopy, with gorgeous green rolling valleys lined by mountains. Thunderous rain showers gave a grey, misty, almost claustiphobic look to the four cowpokes huddled over cards beneath their canvas rain-break. Close-up detail is excellent in most scenes, but there were a couple that exhibited a slightly soft focus. Overall, this film is a visual treat – not a screaming assault on the eyes like Fast & Furious but in a gentler, panoramic fashion that allows you to push further and further into the moment of the story.
This film is as pleasing sonically as it is visually. From small whispers of wind in the grass, to rushing water cutting through the middle of the town's main street, to thunder sounding from the hills, to the harsh, full, slamming impact of 44 cal. pistols and 12-guage shotguns, every nuance is clear, every crash is clean and every voice is well placed in its volume and timbre. Gunfire has an urgent, loud, hammering feel to it that lends a pounding authenticity to the inevitable, final gunfight.
Authenticity reaches into every corner of this production. Look at the detail in the weapons alone – the scuffing in the blueing on the frames of the pistols from rubbing against their holsters, the worn brass shell casings, the creases in the tack from repeated years of use. The correct styling of the hats, bandanas and pants that don't really fit all that well, the wrap of leather around Charlie's saddle horn to help cinch a rope down – all of it pronounce that "this is real". No powerline towers show on the horizon and no pollution soils the backdrop – the editing is excellent. This un-ending attention to detail, more than anything else, lets you dive as far into the existence of these characters as you wish, and all without concern. This illusion won't tear, leaving you out of the moment and wondering where your sense of immersion went.
Moving slowly but surely, from the start with its placid look at life on the cattle trail, this story never loses its focus, building tension and momentum inexorably, reaching the climactic moment where all the forces of good and all the forces of bad meet to settle matters. Skillfully written and exactingly crafted, this Western will be considered a classic for many years to come.
I give Open Range :45: out of :5:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
MPAA rating: R
runtime: 135 minutes
The classic Western isn't dead yet! Kevin Costner not only produced and directed this highly anticipated film, like his landmark Academy Award-winning piece Dances With Wolves, he is also an actor in it. He has helmed several failures since DWW, but has returned to the genre with an excellent new movie – Kevin knows Westerns! With screenplay penned by Craig Storper from the book The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine, the cast includes:
- Robert Duvall (To Kill A Mockingbird, True Grit, The Godfather, Lonesome Dove) as Boss Spearman
Kevin Costner (Silverado, Bull Durham, The Bodyguard) as Charley Waite
Abraham Benrubi (ER, Twister, The Man Who Wasn't There) as Mose
Diego Luna (Y tu mama' tambien') as Button
Annette Benning (The American President, Mars Attacks!, American Beauty) as Sue Barlow
James Russo (Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Beverly Hills Cop, Donnie Brasco) as Sherrif Poole
Michael Gambon (A Dry White Season, Mary Reilly, Sleepy Hollow) as Denton Baxter
Michael Jeter (The Money Pit, Miller's Crossing, The Green Mile) as Percy
This elegant and steadily paced film tells the tale of four men - Boss, Charlie, Mose and Button as they free-range Boss' herd of cattle from one locale to another in search of good grazing. They mean no harm to anyone, and try to live as decently as they can. By this time, free-ranging has fallen out of favor in parts of the West, as more and more prime grazing territory is taken over by the big ranching concerns. They fence off the land in order to horde its resources for their own use – whether they need them or not. Boss, Charlie and the others run afoul of one extremely militant rancher (Baxter) who also, just so happens to have the local law (Poole) in his pocket. Needing medical attention at one point, they encounter Percy the blacksmith and Sue Barlow, the beautiful, warm and strong lady of the local doctor's house.
Being the producer, director and star – once again making his own movie - Kevin Costner did something that I find extraordinary. He took a step back and away from the lead in this film. He installed Robert Duvall as the primary focus of this story – sort of a first among equals - and that single step in itself practically guaranteed us a wonderful film. Duvall took the character of Boss and poured most of his earlier role of Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove into it. He softened a couple of Gus' rough spots for the role of Boss and hardened a couple of softer spots into fierce edges and gave us another character we'll long remember in Western cinema. Charlie is a quiet, almost taciturn man with a long-buried past that hints of shadows and violence. He is a man outside, one that looks for better things, but can never touch them. He respects and follows Boss, all the while trying to lead the young Button by example and hard knocks. Button is a youngster trying to live a man's life, not sure if he is man or boy, not sure of his path. Mose is the giant, gentle, soft-hearted cook, going about life with a smile and an encouraging word.
I found very little to be critical of in this film. Shot in Panavision/Super35, the film is shown using a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The color palette is full, deep and well-balanced with almost none of the mood filters so prevalent in Hollywood productions of the last several years – the exception being a couple of nighttime scenes in a saloon that have a noticeable, but not intrusive yellow/brown tint. Filmed near Calgary, Alberta, Canada, many of the outdoor scenes are long shots, framed to take advantage of the huge blue-sky canopy, with gorgeous green rolling valleys lined by mountains. Thunderous rain showers gave a grey, misty, almost claustiphobic look to the four cowpokes huddled over cards beneath their canvas rain-break. Close-up detail is excellent in most scenes, but there were a couple that exhibited a slightly soft focus. Overall, this film is a visual treat – not a screaming assault on the eyes like Fast & Furious but in a gentler, panoramic fashion that allows you to push further and further into the moment of the story.
This film is as pleasing sonically as it is visually. From small whispers of wind in the grass, to rushing water cutting through the middle of the town's main street, to thunder sounding from the hills, to the harsh, full, slamming impact of 44 cal. pistols and 12-guage shotguns, every nuance is clear, every crash is clean and every voice is well placed in its volume and timbre. Gunfire has an urgent, loud, hammering feel to it that lends a pounding authenticity to the inevitable, final gunfight.
Authenticity reaches into every corner of this production. Look at the detail in the weapons alone – the scuffing in the blueing on the frames of the pistols from rubbing against their holsters, the worn brass shell casings, the creases in the tack from repeated years of use. The correct styling of the hats, bandanas and pants that don't really fit all that well, the wrap of leather around Charlie's saddle horn to help cinch a rope down – all of it pronounce that "this is real". No powerline towers show on the horizon and no pollution soils the backdrop – the editing is excellent. This un-ending attention to detail, more than anything else, lets you dive as far into the existence of these characters as you wish, and all without concern. This illusion won't tear, leaving you out of the moment and wondering where your sense of immersion went.
Moving slowly but surely, from the start with its placid look at life on the cattle trail, this story never loses its focus, building tension and momentum inexorably, reaching the climactic moment where all the forces of good and all the forces of bad meet to settle matters. Skillfully written and exactingly crafted, this Western will be considered a classic for many years to come.
I give Open Range :45: out of :5:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
ops: . It's a great flick imo, with Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, and the rest of the cast excellent. I'd also like to agree with David on the cinematography, which is wonderful in its use of lighting, angle shots, and those beautiful sweeping outdoor vistas. 
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