I’m not starting a
Robert Duvall Western theme – it just sort-of worked out that way.
Synopsis: Hardscrabble
free-graze cattlemen fight injustice in the Old West by... um... assaulting the
local sheriff with chloroform, turning the town into a shooting gallery, and icing an entire army of hired thugs?
Blurb From the VHS
Jacket: “Packed with epic action, Open
Range is a powerfully gripping store that’s never been told until now, and
stars Academy winners Robert Duvall (John
Q) and Kevin Costner (Tin Cup),
and Academy Award nominee Annette Benning (American
Beauty). A group of free grazers, four men trying to escape their pasts,
are driving cattle and living off the land on the open range – a place where
nature makes the only laws. When a ruthless, evil rancher tries to run them out
of town, the men’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.”
What Did I Learn?:
There’s no better way to commence a shooting spree than to munch on some Swiss
chocolate and fire up a fine, Cuban cigar.
You Might Like This
Movie If: You'll watch anything that involves cow-pokes on the Open Range.
Really?: 1) They.
Shot. The. Sheriff. Aren’t there any consequences for icing the local
law-enforcement, even if he is a crooked bastard? 2) Gee...Baxter basically had
our heroes beat the moment they let Mose out of jail. If he had actually given
them a couple of days to get their herd moving, none of this would have
happened – I guess some people have trouble taking “yes” for an answer.
Rating: Clocking
in at 139 minutes, Open Range is a
long movie that takes a loooooooong time to get going, but Costner and Duvall
work well together, the film is well-written, and the climactic shoot-out is quitespectacular. Highly recommended. 8.5/10 stars.
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