All the Pretty Horses

All the Pretty Horses
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Billy Bob Thornton
Produced by	Robert Salerno Billy Bob Thornton
Screenplay by	Ted Tally
Based on	All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Starring	Matt Damon Penélope Cruz Henry Thomas Lucas Black
Music by	Marty Stuart Kristin Wilkinson Larry Paxton
Cinematography	Barry Markowitz
Editing by	Sally Menke
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (US) Miramax Films (Non-US)
Release date(s)	December 25, 2000 (2000-12-25)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$57 million[1]
Box office	$18,133,495[1]

All the Pretty Horses is a 2000 American romance western film, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and based on the novel of the same title by author Cormac McCarthy. It stars Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz. The film received mostly negative reviews and grossed only $18 million worldwide.

Plot

John Grady Cole, a young cowboy, and his best friend Lacey Rawlins leave their ranch in San Angelo, Texas and cross the border on horseback south to Mexico to seek work. They encounter on the trail a peculiar 13-year-old boy named Jimmy Blevins, whom they befriend, and later meet a young aristocrat's daughter, Alejandra Villarreal, with whom Cole falls in love.

Cole and Rawlins become hired hands for Alejandra's father, who likes their work, but Cole's romantic interest in his daughter is unwelcome by her wealthy aunt. After Alejandra is taken away by her father, Cole and Rawlins are arrested by Mexican police and taken to jail, where they encounter Blevins.

Blevins has been accused of stealing a horse and murder, and is killed by a corrupt police officer. Cole and Rawlins are sent to a Mexican prison for abetting Blevins' crime, where they must defend themselves against dangerous inmates and Cole is nearly killed. Cole is freed by the aunt of Alejandra on the condition that she never sees hims again. When he is free again, Cole attempts to reunite with Alejandra over her family's objections.They originally run away together however she decides that she must keep her word as that is all she is and leaves him, returning to her family. He also tracks down the captain who took the Blevins boy's life, seeking revenge.

In the end, he ends up alone, back in the United States, defending himself in a court of law before a judge.

Cast

• Matt Damon as John Grady Cole
• Penélope Cruz as Alejandra Villarreal
• Henry Thomas as Lacey Rawlins
• Lucas Black as Jimmy Blevins
• Ruben Blades as Don Hector de la Rocha
• Sam Shepard as J.C. Franklin
• Robert Patrick as Cole
• Míriam Colón as Doña Alfonsa
• Bruce Dern as The Judge

Production

Editing

After Billy Bob Thornton completed his cut (said to be somewhere between three and four hours) producer/distributor Harvey Weinstein forced him to cut more than one hour out of it. Peter Biskind suggests in his book Down and Dirty Pictures that this was at least partially done as payback for Thornton's refusal to cut Sling Blade.

Thornton's cut had an effect on the storytelling. Matt Damon was publicly critical of this decision, saying to Entertainment Weekly, "You can't cut 35% of the movie and expect it to be the same movie."

Some attempts have been made to release a director's cut DVD, but arrangements can not be reached with the composer of the film's music, Daniel Lanois. As part of the re-cut, Weinstein scrapped the original score and hired Marty Stuart. Lanois felt insulted, and has steadfastly refused to license his score (which, unusually, he owns) to any release of the film.^{[citation needed]}

Critical response

Reviews of the film were generally negative, criticizing it as a poor adaptation of the novel and a dramatically un-involving film.^[2] The comment of Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum was typical: "Faced with a choice of blunt instruments with which to beat a good book into a bad movie, director Billy Bob Thornton chooses heavy, random, arty imagery and a leaden pace."^[3] The New York Times reviewer thought the film "as slick and superficial as a Marlboro advertisement"^[4] The characters were also derided as undeveloped, and some reviewers considered there to be a lack of chemistry between the lead actors. Roger Ebert, however, disagreed, awarding the film three-and-a-half out of a possible four stars.^[5] The film's sweeping visuals (filmed in New Mexico and Texas^[6]), however, were consistently praised by all.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• All the Pretty Horses at the Internet Movie Database
• All the Pretty Horses at AllRovi
• All the Pretty Horses at Rotten Tomatoes
• All the Pretty Horses at Box Office Mojo