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John Wayne played the quintessential
cowboy—and Open Range is a film that he would have enjoyed working on. It’s set in
a time before there were cars and interstates—a time when a man could be measured by his
grit as much as by his occupation.
Charley Waite (Kevin Costner) and
Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) are that type of men. They lead a small band of free
grazing cattle herders. Things are going well until they send one of their men back into
a small town for supplies. When he doesn’t return, Waite and Spearman backtrack to find
out what happened. Upon arriving, they discover a corrupted lawman who has locked their
guy up for a bar brawl he didn’t start. They also meet the crooked rancher who runs the
town, and after a thinly-veiled threat is made, the crew make their way back to camp.
When the threat is acted upon, Waite and Spearman are forced to face their past demons
and set things straight. While violence is not their first choice, it becomes the only
way they can make things right for everybody.
This was one of those
rare occasions where I enjoyed watching Costner’s work. I think that he gives a
relatively nice performance, and it’s certainly interesting to see how he plays off
Duvall and Annette Benning (she plays the sister of the town’s doctor, and she also
catches Costner’s eye). While I did not like this western about redemption, dealing with
personal demons, and cowboys in general as much as I loved Unforgiven, I did like
it enough to give the movie an above average grade.
Extras on the DVD
include several featurettes, deleted scenes, audio commentary, and a music video
montage.
GRADE: B (movie) A (extras)
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