All the Pretty Horses (2001, VHS)

When you decide to make a movie out of a popular novel, you are bound to run into some criticism -- is it faithful to the original text? Is it better, or worse, than the source material? The most important question, however, in my opinion, is why the book is worth adapting into another medium. The power, emotion and message of each version should be similar. For example, while David Fincher may not have included every page of Chuck Pahluniak's text of Fight Club, he didn't change the message of the story, the reason the story was being told in the first place.

By the story, of course, I don't just mean that incidents should happen in the same order, that the source material should be used solely as a roadmap, etc. These incidents should happen for the same reasons, the characters should be motivated by the same passions, etc. That's the main problem with Billy Bob Thornton's version of All The Pretty Horses -- while it is in many ways a surprisingly enjoyable film, it has lost much of the beauty and emotion of Cormac McCarthy's landmark novel. More egregiously, the spark of the novel isn't really replace with anything specific, and in such, the movie is enjoyable, but less impressive than it should be.

It is the late 1940's in West Texas, and young John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) finds himself without a home -- his grandfather has died, and the ranch he hoped to live and work on is being sold by his mother, who has remarried and lives elsewhere. His father (Robert Patrick) can't do much about it either, having signed over all rights to the land to his now ex-wife. Cole wants nothing so much as to work on a ranch, and that way of life is disappearing in front of him. Not content to change with the landscape, Cole convinces his friend Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas) to go with him to Mexico, where the ranches are huge and the life is all they dream of. They want to be "real cowboys," a dream that is indicative of their youth.

Leaving early one morning, the two ride towards the Rio Grande, which they'll cross into Mexico. They are quickly joined by Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black), a brash kid who is likely just entering his teenage years. He has a powerful, gorgeous horse that Cole and Rawlins understand must be stolen -- when pressed, Blevins says that he got the horse (and gun he carries) " at the gettin place." Somewhat amused by Blevins, and unwilling to leave him on his own, the two let him tag along. Blevins becomes a bit of a burden, losing his clothing, horse and gun during a lightning storm. After Blevins brashly and stupidly steals the horse back, he separates from Cole and Rawlins, who proceed to find work on a sprawling, gorgeous Mexican ranch.

The ranch is exactly what they've been looking for -- when asked how long he'd like to stay there, Cole responds, "About a hundred years." That sentiment is based on the ranch life, but it's probably handed an assist by the presence of Alejandra (Penelope Cruz), the breathtakingly beautiful daughter of the ranch owner Rocha (Ruben Blades). It's clear from not only all the advertising of the film but within their first meeting that the two will fall in love, and this probably won't go over so well with Alejandra's family.

That's part of the problem with the film, which is more of a love story than anything else. There's quite a bit of other side story, including notably the harsh Mexican judicial system. But more relevant is what is missing here -- while we see the gorgeous landscapes and the beautiful horses (yes, they really are quite pretty), and we understand Cole's motivation for this lifestyle, it's not overly clear what the point is of the film. In the novel, it was a commentary on the loss of not only the ranch life, but of displacement and loneliness. Here, it seems to be more of a love story, coupled with some beautiful scenery and imagery. The significantly happier ending in the film, interspersed with several other notably more inspiring scenes, may make it a more accessible film, but it ends up siphoning the spirit out of the tale. Again, the problem isn't so much of a lack of correlation with the original text, it's that if one wanted to make a film out of McCarthy's story, it's surprising that one wouldn't include or at least emphasize that which made the book so powerful.

All is not lost here, however. The imagery and scenery are absolutely incredible, and I'm not just talking about Penelope Cruz. The landscapes and horses look like lush oil paintings, the small towns dusty and beige, and Thornton refrains from too many closeups on Damon's overexposed smile. Interspersed with the traditional cinematography are some nice imagery -- a slow motion sequence of a tap-dancing Mexican farmhand, quick cuts of imagery during dialogue -- these are all used in lieu of McCarthy's original source material, which in many ways was so powerful because of the language. It's not a bad replacement, frankly, and Thornton does a good job here.

Additionally impressive is the acting -- Damon, in particular, does an excellent job, not only in mastering a plausible accent but also in capturing the stoic Cole as required by the story. While he's not exactly the same character as in the novel, he's a strong, independent presence on screen. It's clearly his best work since Good Will Hunting, and if anyone had seen this film, it would have more firmly established him as a truly good actor. Henry Thomas is also quite solid, and with this film and Saving Private Ryan, he may finally be escaping his E.T. roots. (His character, by the way, like Cole's, is nowhere near as interesting or as deep as in the book, but once again I quibble.) The Lovely and Gorgeous Penelope Cruz, possibly as famous as one can be without having uttered much dialogue or having been in a successful film, looks fantastic. She acts pretty well too, given her limited role -- her character is woefully underdeveloped, but she comes across well in the small amount of time she's given. It will be interesting to see how she does in the upcoming Captain Corelli's Mandolin, where (again, at least in the book version) she should have a very substantial role. As the young Jimmy Blevins, Lucas Black is simply excellent -- he conveys a youthful brashness, foolhardy ignorance and an entire range of emotions as if he'd been acting for decades. As a young actor, with this performance as well as his great job in Sling Blade, Black looks like he'll be a force to be reckoned with for sometime to come. Also worth noting is Julio Oscar Mechoso, who plays a Mexican police captain superbly.

All The Pretty Horses does several things very well, and has several excellent acting performances coupled with great cinematography. The problem is that the plot ends up being somewhat flat and undefined. Perhaps this was an editing issue -- as has been published numerous times, the first cut of this film approached four hours. Regardless, the result is not an unpleasant film, just one that could have been much more with a little more direction.