Open Range (2003)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Craig Storper, based on the novel by Lauran Paine
Directed by Kevin Costner
Starring Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Benning, Michael Gambon, Michael Jeter

Features:

• Running audio commentary by actor/director Costner
  
• "America's Open Range" -- historical featurette narrated by Costner
  
• "Beyond Open Range" Director's Journal
  
• Deleted scenes introduced by Costner
  
• Storyboarding featurette
  
• Music video montage
  

Released by: Buena Vista Home Video
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Own it if you are fan of westerns, otherwise rent it

Boss Spearman (Duvall) and Charley Waite (Costner) are a pair of cowboys who have been riding together for a long time. They are pushing their herd near a little town called Harmonville that is owned and dictated by a corrupt rancher named Denton Baxter (Gambon). Since Baxter owns the town, the town sides against any and all free range cowboys because Baxter doesn't want them allowing their cattle to graze on his land. A sudden storm forces Boss, Charley and their two other men (Luna and Benrubi) to pause a little too long just outside of town and Baxter sends some of his goons to either run them off or kill them. After one of their men is killed and another seriously wounded, Boss and Charley return to town only looking for revenge.

Costner is one of those people who needs to just understand he is a better director than he is an actor. That having been said, this movie could have been much more powerful and told much better if two of the roles had been cast differently. First of all, Costner should never have played one of the lead roles. Someone like Tom Selleck or Chris Cooper would have been able to portray the depth that exists in this character much better than Costner could ever have hoped to. The other role in need of a re-cast was the role of Sue played by Benning. Granted, there have been some roles that Benning was simply born to play...but this is not one of them. Again, there is a depth to her character that she simply could not bring across on the screen. I really believe that someone like Jessica Lange could have brought that out in the character a lot better.

Now that we are beyond the casting problems, let's talk about the movie itself. The story is a strong one and Costner the director tells it well. Honestly, if it weren't for Duvall, this movie would have been lost. I've heard the complaint that the movie was too long but, at two hours and twenty minutes, it's relatively short (for a Costner movie). The movie builds slowly but the story needs to be told at that pace. Had the movie had been any shorter, it would have suffered. The costumes, sets, and set dressings are absolutely beautiful and seem to be historically accurate. And, in the end, you get into it simply because you don't want to see a man like Baxter have control over the people of this small town who are guilty of nothing more than trying to make their lives work on the Frontier. On the positive side, this movie can boast one of the best gunfight scenes that has ever been filmed.

For a two-disc special edition, this movie could have had a better showing. At least there is a commentary, but that's not really all that surprising. Costner likes to hear himself talk and at least he knows how to talk about the movies he's directed with some level of intelligence. Watching Costner's commentary, you become aware of the fact that a lot of the character details that Costner talks about are the little details that he, as an actor, could not bring across in his performance.

The second disc contains most of the bonus material. The first featurette is called "Beyond Open Range" and it is broken up into eight segments. You can watch a particular segment, or you can opt to play them all. The first part of this documentary focuses on the fact that a majority of their financial backing fell through, but Costner put his own money on the line in order to get it made. Then it shifts into the rehearsal process and how Costner works with his actors. This is a really interesting look at the how movies get made and on the whole, this featurette is the standard by which all future featurettes should be judged. It focuses on the making of the movie and the problems and triumphs that they had throughout the process. It is narrated by Costner, and the interviews with the cast and crew and very sparse and only used if they help tell the story (in other words, they don't waste your time by forcing you to hear the cast blowing smoke up each other's skirts).

The second featurette focuses on the real life American Western Frontier. It's narrated by Costner and it feels like a documentary made for The History Channel. There are twelve deleted scenes in this set that are introduced by Costner. The back of the DVD case lists these deleted scenes as having optional commentary, but they are only introduced by Costner. This is the rare case where I do believe that the movie could have been improved had they left some of these scenes in the movie. Scene 20 entitled "River Campfire" is a really good example of this. It's a scene that focuses on Duvall's character and would have strengthened the movie.

The last two features are called "Storyboarding Open Range". This is not just a static look at some of the storyboards of the movie. Instead they actually took the time to interview the storyboard artist that helped Costner create the shots of his movie. The artist actually put his sketches in on a laptop and essentially made the movie (mostly the pacing) so that Costner could get the idea of whether or not something worked or not before they had actually put anything on film. The final segment is a music video of some of the behind-the-scenes footage set to a very modern song. This just feels completely out of place. The song feels like it tried to capture the essence of the movie, but tried to do so in a very Bon Jovi kind of way. It just doesn't work. It's overly sentimental and probably only means something to those people who were part of the making of the movie. For the general moviegoing public, it's just self-indulgent.

So, if you have not seen the movie, it's worth renting at least once. If you are a fan of the western (or even just a fan of Duvall's), you'll want to pick this one up permanently.