Short Review: Open Range

  The western is my favorite genre. With it's romanticized vision of America's frontier spirit it's the closest thing we'll ever have to a true mythology. Unfortunately there have not been many great westerns in the last decade. Open Range is one of a few really significant ones. As I only recently saw it for the first time I've decided to review it.
Warning: There will be minor spoilers.

  Open Range was made in 2003. It was directed by Kevin Costner and stars Robert Duvall, Annette Bening, and Costner himself. It tells the story of four cowboys, "Boss" Spearman (Duvall), Charley (Costner), Mose (Abraham Benrubi), and Button (Diego Luna), who are confronted by an Irish-American rancher named Baxter, who wants to steal their cattle. Baxter has bought out sheriff of the nearby town of Harmonville and is basically controlling it. When one of the cowboys is killed and another badly injured, Boss and Charley decide seek justice and take on Spearman and his men.

  The conflict in the film is well established and the characters feel like real people. The relationships are well fleshed out, particularly between Boss and Charley and between Charley and Sue Barlow (the sister of the town doctor, played by Bening). There are alot of nice little moments, like Charley trying to pick up the dirt he trailed into the doctor's house while Sue changes her clothes, or Boss and Charley's final chat before the big gunfight. This gunfight, which serves as the films climax, has been called one of the greatest shootouts in film history. While I have some reservations about it (there are one or two confusing moments), it is really good. The impact of the gunfire is powerful, making the fight visceral and intense, and it's very coherently shot and edited. The visuals and music in the film are very strong and give it an old school feel. No bombastic Hans Zimmer-esque score or saturated lighting here.

  The one big flaw in the film is the dialogue. While it sometimes naturalistic and subtle, at others it's gratingly stilted and cliche'. Just a few examples should suffice: "Old Boss sure can cowboy, can't he?" "Broke the mold after him." "...they had it coming, I expect". Despite this Open Range is still a really good western and these days that's a rarity.
Score: 8.5/10