Open Range (2004, VHS)

Charley Waite : Well you may not know this, but there's things that gnaw at a man worse than dying

Open Range 2003

Directed by Kevin Costner
Robert Duvall as Boss Spearman
Kevin Costner as Charley Waite
Annette Bening as Sue Barlow
Michael Gambon as Denton Baxter
Michael Jeter as Percy


The Storyline / plot

Boss Spearman runs a small free grazing outfit on open range. He has a herd of cattle as well as horses. Free grazing is common practice in the west during those days but like everything else, had its obstacles. Spearman had three cow punchers that worked for him, Side rod Charlie Waite, Mose and Button. While trying to round up their livestock after a horrific lightning storm, they run into some trouble. As you can imagine, free grazers didn t mess to well with land or cattle barons. Spearman and his herd were in close proximity to Denton Baxter s land, ranches, town and self-proclaimed small empire. Not only was Baxter a land and cattle baron, he was a ruthless murderer.

Baxter had the town s people browbeat and the sheriff bought and paid for. Spearman sent one of his men into town to get supplies while they rounded up their scattered herd. After his man failed to return, Spearman and Charlie head for town. A bunch of Baxter s men had jumped Mose at the general store and knocked the tar out of him. After they had him down they put the boots to him. He ended up sitting in jail in pretty bad shape. Boss Spearman had words with the so called Marshall, as well as Baxter. Baxter told Spearman to get his cattle out of his county, now!

Baxter had no intentions of letting Spearman or his herd out of the county. He figured this would be easy pickins, a large herd and only four men to protect it. He figured wrong. Boss Spearman had some grit to him and Charlie Waite was a former sniper in the civil war, not to mention he is a top notch gun slinger himself.

Conclusion

Open Range was similar to a lot of other westerns out there. Things will go haywire in some town that is run by a villainous mogul and it will inevitably end up with a showdown. A couple of movies come to mind, Tombstone and Unforgiven. I enjoyed all three films so I guess it s not a bad thing. You won t see a new plot here is all.

I really enjoyed the acting. Duvall is great as always and excels in his part as boss Spearman. I can t find a movie with Duvall in it that I don t enjoy, the man is an outstanding actor. Costner also did a good job playing his part as Charlie Waite. I did not care for the character though. He was as fast as lightning with a gun and a very genuine guy but a bit thick headed. I think it might have been better if the character was a bit more intelligent. Some of his lines made him sound like a bonehead. Then there was Annette Bening who I think is a splendid actress. She is easy to watch and plays her part as Sue, well.

The Cinematography was of good quality and was complimented by the beautiful scenery. I found the directing solid and did not observe any major dead spots or glitches. The score by Michael Kamen was also notable and I enjoyed the music. The script was decent and kept the viewer interested. There was a good mixture of action and good dialog. Duvall definitely made the movie. I tend to enjoy Costners westerns. I hope he makes a few more instead of films such as, The Postman. I would recommend Open Range to anyone who enjoys westerns, Duvall or Costner. Most people would enjoy seeing it once.

DVD Bonus Features

Directors Journal
Deleted Scenes
Music Video
The Real Open Range Narrated by Costner

Similar Movies

Lonesome Dove
John Wayne and the Cowboys
Tombstone
Unforgiven
Top Ten Westerns


RUNTIME: 2 Hours 20 minutes
Rated : [R] for violence

Thanks for the read,
~Mac

@2004 Joe McMaster