Open Range DVD > Reviews > A simple story well told

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Duvall is great and the scenery is breathtaking
Disadvantages:	Gambon & Benning's Characters

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This movie is the story of four free grazers (a term I had never heard before) in the American West in the 1880's. The free grazers whose main characters are Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) and Charlie (Kevin Costner) fall fowl of a corrupt landowner & rancher (Michael Gambon) who seeks to put an end to free grazers once and for all. As the story progresses we see beautiful panoramic landscapes, shootouts, oppression of townsfolk, and even some love - when Costner meets a lonely spinster played by Annette Benning.

Costner has always been a bit of an enigma to me I seem to either love his characters (JFK, Wyatt Earp, Field of Dreams) or hate them (The Bodyguard, The Postman, Water world) but in this movie I found a character I liked. Costner plays a quiet deep man with a shady past and once he doesn't overact the role but even Costner's performance is completely overshadowed by the colossal performance of the veteran Robert Duval as Boss (the kind of man we would all love as our grandfather hard on the outside soft on the inside kinda like a M&M only a cowboy).

The story is slow and simple but it really seems to suit the movie and the characters and slowly builds over 100 minutes to the final shootout which lasts for the remaining 30 (there's one in every cowboy movie - it's the law I think). While Duvall and Costner were great I was disappointed by Gambon and Benning. Gambon's character the evil rancher (with the worst Irish accent you ever heard) is overplayed and lacks depth which is a real shame given Gambon's ability which he clearly wasn't given scope to use in the movie. With Benning her character just seemed unnecessary and unbelievable, she just seems to have been put in to give Costner a love interest. This was something, which I felt the movie didn't need, although it allowed us to delve deeper into the characters past but I think this could have been done in other ways.

Despite the performances of Gambon and Benning the main characters are supported by a host of interesting and good supporting characters such as the livery stable owner, Mose (another free grazer), the Doctor and the evil Sheriff. I would recommend this movie to most people unless you are looking for a fast action packed western with lots of gunplay. This is definitely a movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Special Features -
An audio commentary form Costner - Ok but the movie wasn't complicated and didn't need explaining

America's open range - a historical journey back in time to the real open range of the 1880's, narrated again by Costner. This was interesting and informative if a little short.

Deleted scenes again with Costner (he really does like the sound of his own voice)

Storyboarding: open range

Music Video Montage

Technical Information -
Running time: 133 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 anamorphic wide screen
Subtitles: English only
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1: english