Open Range (2003)

Director: Kevin Costner
Starring: Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Michael Gambon, Michael Jeter, Diego Luna

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Here's a by-the-numbers Western: men on the range, they are wronged by some capitalist, they seek revenge, one's salvation is a woman. Despite all this, there are some great things to find in Open Range. First of all, the script is great. You've got stock characters, but the performances make them fresh. Diego Luna is the kid looking for acceptance with the older men, Boss (Duvall) and Charley (Costner). Duvall is the old cowboy who can't give up the old ways of cowboy-ing and still believes in codes of honor and "making right". Costner is the quiet, competent member of the team with skeletons in his closet. Everything plays out as expected, and it's rather satisfying to watch a movie that makes no bones about what it is and what it's doing. The palette, however, is unlike anything I've ever seen in a Western. It's positively pastoral. Costner also makes great use of the colors of sunrise and sunset. The film is very reminiscent of Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo in its plot structure, but with about half the comedy. If nothing else, it's worth seeing Robert Duvall as the grizzled old man: the ultimate patriarch, the perfect cowboy.

July 21
apartment TV, early afternoon

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