Open Range

Since I don't much like Westerns, I'm not sure why I was inclined to rent this film. Like everyone else, I probably want to give Kevin Costner just one more chance to prove he can act AND can bring in the money. It seems as if he (or his producers) are catching on, since he doesn't headline this film, Robert Duvall does. And yet there's another actor I don't always enjoy (mostly for the giggling-while-talking affectation). But I liked this film just fine. Maybe because it's talking about an issue that really occurred out West (as opposed to the West as a fantasy world, which is mostly why I don't like the genre) -- the point in time when free range cattlemen started to butt heads with ranchers and their barbed wire. Maybe because it also stars Annette Bening, who is one of the few brave women over 45 who will act without gobs and gobs of makeup. Maybe because it's not macho, and while full of cliches, manages to say some pithy things about human relationships. Maybe because Costner is not so bad. At acting or at directing. I like his take-it-slow approach very much. So, I'm willing yet again to give him that one more chance. But I do wish he would choose a comedy next -- he has a fine comedic range (see Dances With Wolves again) that's barely been tapped.

year: 2003
length: 139 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316356/combined