Open Range
That Kevin Costner has the tendency to film the apocalypse when he directs a movie is not news, think Waterworld or The Postman. His latest film, Open Range, is really no exception; it’s only a matter of degrees. In it the apocalypse works more as a theme, a subtle backdrop to the plot, than as a direct setting, and it works well this time. Yet, as usual, Costner overdoes himself and his failure to limit his vision gets the best of his film.
This is not to say that Open Range is a failure. The cinematography deserves an A, if only for capturing the romance of the “open range.” The movie begins with slow sweeping music that rolls out like the landscape, almost endlessly. Charley (Costner) and Boss (Robert Duvall) herd their cattle across the screen and the camera takes in wide shots of the landscape and holds them long, evoking the immense size and idyllic pace of the range. The landscape seems so soft that one could fall from the sky without getting hurt. It rolls on with the green slopes and the blue sky of Winslow Homer’s American pastoral. As Duvall’s character says, “beautiful country. Man can forget people and things aren’t as simple as this.” Of course, the movie won’t let us.
The film focuses on two cowboys, Boss and Charley, who seek revenge against a villainous rancher named Baxter (Michael Gambon) who has killed one of their helpers and badly injured the other, a boy of only sixteen. Those who have seen Duvall’s other westerns (Lonesome Dove, Broken Trail) will not only recognize his character, but his partners as well. Duvall plays Boss, a gregarious romantic getting on in his years, but still rousting about. Alongside him is Charley, a reticent and nearly humorless man with a troubled past, the viciousness of which only his remorse can match. Duvall does an excellent job with the ol’ joker, and Costner adequately evokes the turmoil below his character’s surface.
The film’s setting is an A as well. The town contrasts sharply with the countryside. It’s muddy, treacherous, and the ground literally slips out from under them, as when they cross the street during the flood, a flood that Boss hasn’t seen the likes of which, “since Noah and the flood.” Indeed, they’re here to save the good folks and drown the sinners in a pool of their own blood. When they are crossing the street, they lose a board to the water’s rush. It eventually collapses a house’s foundation. Symbolically, this foreshadows what they’re going to do. In true Costner style, they’ve come for a day of reckoning.
There are some truly accomplished scenes in this film. The technique is fresh too. They use slow motion effectively at the bar when Charley shoots the mirror with his rifle, which gives the viewer a strong sense of impact. Yet, they overdo it at the end when Boss runs into the jail to kill Baxter. It draws too much attention to itself and looks pretty darn ridiculous, but it has been good for laughs.
Costner has the habit of overdoing himself. He has the most difficult time cutting things out, as he himself admits on the special features. I can sympathize with him as a writer, and even forgive him certain scenes, but the extended love story tacked onto the end was a sequel I could barely suffer, especially since it comes after 2 hours.
By the time he shows up at Sue’s (Annette Bening) house at the end, you expect her to say, “shut up you old fool,” for they’ve said, at his beseeching, the same things to each other the whole movie. It was like the DVD was skipping and I was watching the same courtship over and over. I understand that Costner wanted to portray the difficulty of change for a man who had been hardened to his way of life, but that could’ve been implied, or quickly stated, rather than extensively displayed, and was therefore unnecessary. I liked that he put them together at the end, but he didn’t need to take so long.
Overall, the film deserves a B. There’s plenty of great scenes to make up for the bad decisions. The DVD has some worthwhile special features too. Costner’s commentary on the DVD is insightful, historical and personal. The feature on storyboarding provides a unique and informative look into the realization of a director’s vision on film. The DVD is definitely worth the rental price.
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