scott or anyone: feelings on OPEN RANGE?

[mr. henry]

i thought this was a great western. the dialogue and chemistry between duvall and costner was excellent. and that guy getting shot through the wall was pretty awesome. cinematography was great. Kostner deserves a lot of credit. the commentary on the dvd is great. Kostner really puts a lot of thought into every detail.

[trekgeezer]

I really liked this movie, I watched it like three times in two weeks on DVD. Costner sunk a lot of his own money into it , but I think it was worth it. I liked the realism of the gunfight, especially when shoots the smartass gunslinger in the forehead with no warning and panics the rest of the bad guys.

It really had the feel of some the great old westerns, and Kevin Costner deserves the credit .  If anyone watches the DVD you really need to watch the extras because there is a lot in there about what it takes to get a movie made.

[Deej]

Good to see you again, Mr. H!! I thought Open Range was fantastic. As, trek_geezer said, it had the feel of a classic western, and the final shootout was amazing. I thought it interesting that there were no "cooler heads" in this movie. In many westerns, there is some voice of reason who is trying to disuade the hero(s) from fighting, most often the hero's love interest. This film didn't really have that, which, I feel is not only refreshing, but probably realistic. Also, it was nice to see some of the people who usually get killed off in this type of movie, lived through Open Range.

[Scott]

Yea, where have you been Mr.Henry? OPEN RANGE is excellent especially the gunfight. You picked a good one for me in HIRED HAND. That was a good one.

Stop back Mr. Henry. It's always good to have you on the board.

[nobody]

I enjoyed the movie a lot, but I thought some moments were too colorful (I'm talking about the cinematography. There were a lot of "postcard shots" in the flick). It didn't feel like an "authentic" western to me. But I'd still recommend it to everyone.

[mr. henry]

thanks for the welcome back.  my newspaper writer job kept me pretty busy and they cracked down on internet use. imagine that, a newspaper that installed internet filters. anyway, i quit that gig and am moving up to chicago. i should be able to visit this site more and update my own site more now too.

hired hand is very realistic in that many people in the west tried to mind their own business but wound up getting involved in violence. i haven't seen too many westerns but three of my favorite would have to be Hired Hand, Unforgiven, and Open Range. Of course I've seen many of Eastwood's spaghetti westerns and I like those too but I always get the names mixed up. i like the one where they paint the town red.

[trekgeezer]

High Plains Drifter  - It was made quite a while after Clint's spaghettii western days. It was also directed by  Clint.  His character  seems to be a ghost of the murdered sheriff.  He made the paint the town red and then put up a sign that said Welcome to Hell.  

Glad to see another western buff  posting.

[The Burgomaster]

The best western since UNFORGIVEN.  Highly recommended.

[Yaddo42]

I guess I'm the minority on this one. I wasn't crazy about it, but won't say I hated it.

It did have lots of gorgeous scenery and the climatic gunfight was well done and intense, but the film was so long for so little payoff. I wouldn't mind seeing Costner attempt to direct an adaption of one of Elmore Leonard's sparsely written western stories, but this was a 139 minute movie that felt way too long. I watched "Master & Commander" around the same time (also roughly 139 minutes IIRC) and was sorry when it ended, I liked it so much I wanted more.

I know the characters are supposed to be plain spoken frontier people, but the dialogue came across as written by struggling film students. Robert Duvall was playing the same ornery wisen old cowpoke geezer type he played in "Lonesome Dove" and "Geronimo", I half expected Tommy Lee Jones to ride into the shot at some time. Michael Gambon's town boss was so stereotypically nasty I expected him to start twirling a handlebar mustache. Abraham Benrubi's character had "deadmeat" stamped on his head from the get go. The romance between Costner and Benning seemed such a given that I was impatient during the early stages, and after the shootout when things were being resolved for the characters lives after the cattle selloff, I just wanted the film to end rather than sit through all the talk of the two of them trying to sell themselves short ("I'm not a young woman"). Like they were really going to change their minds and go their separate ways after all this.

I agree it felt old-fashioned, but to me it was a plot worthy of a b-level studio western from the 50s trying to be an epic.

[Deej]

Yaddo42 wrote:
> I agree it felt old-fashioned, but to me it was a plot worthy
> of a b-level studio western from the 50s trying to be an epic.

I never really thought about it that way, but you're right. I mean, I still like the movie, and the first time I watched it, I hardly noticed the running time. Maybe that's what I enjoyed about it, just a straight forward Goodguy Vs. Badguy flick, with none of the ambiguity of Tombstone or Unforgiven(both of which I also enjoy). It's definitely simplistic, but, that's refreshing once in awhile. Anyway, good call on the B-western thought...nail on the head.

[Scott]

I understand what Yaddo is saying. I thought it was a little slow leading up to the gunfight at the end, but that is what I liked about it. Feeling like your out west and getting caught up in some trouble.

It's not THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY that had something interesting in dialogue and action throughout the film. It depends on what your looking for in a film or what you like in film. Sometimes it's just ones mood.

The West is a character all its own and many times the West is the star of the film.

[Neville]

I thought it was excellent, but they could have edited it a bit tighter. I have nothing against slow movies, but some of the scenes through the middle section were pretty unnecesary, and even relieved the tension that great moments like the discussion with the sheriff had created. But I shouldn't complain. The movie really delivers towards the end, and it is great to see characters, and not mere dummies, walking into a fight. Hell, and Costner was nice enough to provide a lot of great actors with good supporting roles, which is something hard to see this days.