So what's it all about?
Boss Spearman (Duvall) and Charley Waite (Costner) are free grazers -
they travel the country taking their herd wherever there's food, as
opposed to staying in one place. They pass through one town where a
wealthy ranch owner hates free grazers. One of their companions is
murdered and the other is beaten into a coma.
Spearman and Waite decide to return to the town and exact vengeance.
Along the way Waite also falls in love with the local doctor's sister, Sue
Butler, (Benning) and has to balance a fragile courtship with a vendetta.
Is it any good?
If you like westerns, you'll enjoy this movie. The characters are
stereotypical, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. Duvall and
Costner make their characters real, convincing and fallible. Duvall is
ideal as the older cowboy, a man of his word with an unfailing sense of
honour, justice and doing the right thing. He is good-hearted, quiet and
tough, leading by example and guiding his companions in the right
direction without being sanctimonious. He is particularly effective as a
moral guide to Charley and advisor in his clumsy courtship of the doctor's
sister.
Costner is very believable as Spearman's foil, and sometimes downright
scary. An amoral, former soldier with no qualms about killing, he is
haunted by his bloody past, but knows no alternative until he joins
Spearman. He avoids trouble but, when confronted with it, is extremely
effective in dealing with it.
The gun battle (there is only one) is quite impressive and authentic.
When shots are fired the screen is filled with smoke, a lot of shots are
misses and horses get wounded in the crossfire. Best of all, and contrary
to many classic westerns, people actually get shot standing behind wood
walls.
Open Range is a long film. A lot of footage could be considered
superfluous and slows the story down considerably. But the added footage
does add a wealth of detail and authenticity to the film. It includes a
lot of breathtaking panning shots of mountain ranges, the countryside and
galloping horses, making Open Range a beautiful film to watch.
Score: 3/5
How about those special features?
Only a couple of trailers of other films.
Score: 1/5
Best part:
The gun fight, what else?
Best quote:
"One twitch and you're in hell"
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Open
Range