August 15, 2003 -- Classic westerns are few and far between these days. There hadn't been a good one since “All the Pretty Horses” in 1991, until “Open Range” opened in theaters today. This beautifully-filmed western is in the take-justice-into-your-own-hands tradition of “High Noon,” “Wyatt Earp” and “Unforgiven.” It features beautiful scenery, well-developed characters, a romance and a suspenseful buildup capped by a well-staged gunfight.

Kevin Costner of “13 Days” stars as Charley Waite, a cowboy with a dark past herding free range cattle with good-natured cook Mose (Abraham Benrubi of “The Man Who Wasn't There”), carefree youngster Button (Diego Luna of “Frida”) and trail Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall of “Gods and Generals”). Waite and Spearman have been driving cattle across open ranges together for about 10 years, but they really don't know that much about each others' past lives. That's about to change. The tiny band of cowboys become entangled with a ruthless cattle rancher, Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon of “Charlotte Gray”) who sends his men out to either run the cowboys off his land or kill them. The cowboys will get no help from the sheriff of the town of Harmonville, where they stop for supplies. Baxter runs the town and the sheriff. When Baxter pushes the cowboys too hard, they fight back and the violence escalates to a deadly climax. Neither side will back down as Waite's violent past surges back to the surface.

At the same time, a romance begins to blossom between Waite and Sue Barlow (Annette Bening of “American Beauty”), the sister of the Harmonville doctor who helps the cowboys when they are injured by Baxter's men. Barlow sees Waite's rage and violence, but she also sees the gentler side of the cowboy. There is a very good scene between Barlow and Waite just before the final gun battle when Spearman persuades Waite to go back and tell Barlow how he really feels about her, in case he never sees her again. It is a great scene of romance between two lonely, plain-speaking people in a desperate situation. The gun battle is done in a very realistic fashion. A lot of shots miss the mark. Most of the townspeople very pragmatically wait to see who is winning before deciding to get into the fight themselves. There is no quick draw nonsense. The combatants take targets of opportunity where they can find them.

The location shots in Alberta are beautifully photographed by James Muro. Costner, who also directs this film, (his last such effort was the critical and box office disaster “The Postman”), does a good job racheting up the suspense before the final battle. He also makes sure there is plenty of time for character development. Some may find this construction a little too slow-moving, but I thought that was offset by the suspense as the two sides move toward a showdown. The actors did an excellent job of creating believable, compelling characters, particularly Costner, Duvall and Bening. Duvall has been in some lackluster movies lately, and some of his performances have been below par. But he's back in good form in this film. Another good character is the feisty stable keeper, Percy (Michael Jeter of “The Green Mile”). This is quite a departure for Jeter, who usually plays gay, or crazy characters (or sometimes both, as in his wigged out transvestite character in “The Fisher King”). Choosing Jeter for this pivotal role is certainly unconventional casting by Mindy Marin, but Jeter performs flawlessly. The musical score by Michael Kamen (“X-Men”) is also very good.

This is a good film. Not up to the level of the best of the genre, but it is a solid, well-crafted movie. It marks a welcome return of the classic western, the only truly American genre, after too long of an absence. It seems unlikely that the genre will ever become dominant again, but perhaps it will climb back to the level of three or four major releases a year again. This movie may not be high art, but it is a hell of a lot better than the typical Hollywood action, horror, science fiction, police, psychological drama, or teen sex comedy film. This movie rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2003 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .