 Tagline: No place to run. No reason to hide Packed with epic action, Open Range is a powerfully gripping story that's never been told until now, and stars Academy Award winners Robert Duvall (1983 Best Actor, Tender Mercies and Kevin Costner (1991 Best Director, Dances With Wolves), and Academy Award nominee Annette Bening (1999 Best Actress, American Beauty. A group of free grazers, four men trying to escape their past, are driving cattle and living off the land on the open range-a place where naturemakes the only laws. When a ruthless, evil rancher tries to run them out of town, themen's peaceful existence takes a tumultuous turn and ends in the grittiest, most explosive gunfight on film as two men battle a town for honor, justice, and a way of life that's quickly disappearing. "Thumbs Up!" -- Ebert & Roeper "Best western since Unforgiven" -- Larry King "Open Range is simply a grand cinematic experience." -- Frank Wilkins, Reel Talk Movie Reviews. "Once you are drawn into the nuances of the story, you'll find you're pretty much at home on the Range." -- Staci Layne Wilson, Fantastica Daily. Storyline: Boss Spearman, Charley Waite, Mose Harrison and Button freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing a friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward herd forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt sheriff and kingpin rancher who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss and Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards an inevitable showdown, as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all too quickly vanishing. Amidst the turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for the loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm spirited Sue Barlow, a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul. Written by Sujit R. Varma Editor's Note Set in the early 1880s, this Western directed by Kevin Costner (DANCES WITH WOLVES, THE POSTMAN) is a classic tale of the good guys verses the bad guys with a romance thrown in for good measure. Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) and Charley Waite (Kevin Costner) are free grazers, riding herds of cattle across the country and grazing as they go. But a local rancher, Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon), considers Boss and his boys thieves, and is determined to run them out of his town by any means possible--even murder. Duvall is endearing as the tough but tender Boss, who has the courage of his convictions and refuses to be intimidated by Baxter. Costner's Charley has worked for Boss for ten years while trying to forget his past, only to find himself drawn back into conflict. Lovable Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and teenager Button (Diego Luna) round out the free grazers' team. Annette Bening stars as the town doctor's sister, Sue, who is drawn to Charley's gentle demeanor and is unfazed by his ability to kill. Beautiful scenery, a script peppered with humor, and solid performances--especially from Duvall and the supporting cast--make Costner's fourth foray into directing enjoyable. Cast Notes: Robert Duvall (Boss Spearman), Kevin Costner (Charley Waite), Annette Bening (Sue Barlow), Michael Gambon (Denton Baxter), Michael Jeter (Percy), Diego Luna (Button), James Russo (Sheriff Poole), Abraham Benrubi (Mose), Dean McDermott (Doc Barlow), Kim Coates (Butler), Herb Kohler (Cafe Man), Peter MacNeill (Mack), Cliff Saunders (Ralph), Patricia Stutz (Ralph's Wife [as Pat Stutz]), Julian Richings (Wylie). User Comment: Roland E. Zwick (magneteach@aol.com) • Call me a contrarian, if you like, but, for some strange reason, I have always found myself more favorably disposed towards Kevin Costner's `failures' as a director (i.e. `Waterworld' and `The Postman') than towards his respectable, highly acclaimed `successes' (`Dances With Wolves' and his new film `Open Range'). Those former films may have been bloated, overlong and over-budgeted vanity productions, it's true, but at least with each of them, the director was willing to take a number of chances. His westerns have been bloated and overlong, too, but they've lacked the kind of risk-taking spirit that allows us to forgive some of the filmmaker's trademark excesses and indulgences. `Open Range,' for all its high-minded seriousness, is a pretty tedious affair - undramatic, longwinded and plodding. The screenplay by Craig Storper, based on the novel by Lauran Paine, is the oldie about the `freegrazers' who come into conflict with the settled ranchers who don't like the fact that these rootless steer drivers are trespassing on `their' land. It's 1882 and, apparently, most of the once-unclaimed Far West territory has been parceled out to the highest bidder leaving little open range for the free-spirited cattlemen. Costner and three of his freegrazing buddies find themselves in a deadly feud with the leaders of a nearby prairie town. It's a stale story that culminates in a thunderous, but surprisingly unconvincing Main Street shootout (unconvincing not because the violence is unrealistic or poorly staged - it's quite well done in fact - but because some of the characters behave in ways that defy any credibility whatsoever). Something decent might have been made out of this material had Storper and Costner not turned it into a soporific snorer with endless dialogue, minimal action and a crushing air of reverential self-importance. Robert Duvall gives a finely etched performance as the grizzled old cowpoke who appears all tough and gruff on the surface but who is just a big old softie underneath all the leathery skin and bristly whiskers. Even though the character itself is little more than a hoary cliché, Duvall makes the most of his opportunities. Costner does well within his more limited acting range, but his character is even less well developed than Duvall's. Annette Bening is stoic and valiant as the requisite love interest for Costner, but poor Diego Luna (`Y Tu Mama Tambien,' `Frida') is wasted in a nothing role as the young sidekick who ends up spending most of the movie either unconscious or laid up in bed recovering from a gunshot wound suffered early on. As a director, Costner generates a fairly impressive feel for the immensity of the plains and for the part weather plays in the lives of those who live there, but these alone are not enough to sustain our interest over the duration of a two hour and eighteen minute movie. Even the attempts at humor ring hollow and untrue. `Open Range' may be more of a `success' with critics and audiences than were `Waterworld' and `The Postman,' but that, given Costner's rather strange track record, may be less of a good thing than it would appear at first sight. Summary: enervating western IMDb Rating (01/28/04): 7.6/10 from 2,980 users
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