Themes: Miscarriage of Justice, Star-Crossed Lovers, Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance
Main Cast: Matt Damon, Henry Thomas, Lucas Black, Penélope Cruz, Rubén Blades, Bruce Dern, Sam Shepard
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Director Billy Bob Thornton explores coming of age in this Western based on Cormac McCarthy's prize-winning novel of the same name. John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) and Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas) are young Texan men who seek a more fulfilling life as cowboys in the slowly fading Old West, circa 1949. One night, the duo head for Mexico in hope of finding some adventure and employment, and along the way run into Blevins (Lucas Black), an even younger drifter who has supposedly stolen a horse from private property. Begrudgingly, Cole and Rawlins take him under their wing before they eventually find themselves in Mexico, working for a wealthy landowner (Ruben Blades). His stalwart and beautiful daughter Alejandra (Penelope Cruz) develops a romantic interest in Cole, which threatens the friendship between him and Rawlins, not to mention their living quarters, where Alejandra's watchful aunt (Miriam Colon) warns Cole that she has professed allegiance to her. Cole and Rawlins' thrill-seeking adventures with Blevins and the stolen horse catch up to them, however, and they are held prisoners in a brutal penitentiary, where their cowboy instincts are put to the ultimate test. Cole, meanwhile, wants nothing more than to get back to Alejandra and resume their love affair. The film also features Bruce Dern in a small role as a judge who eventually gives much-desired guidance to Cole. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Review
The mythology of the Western is given a solid treatment by director Billy Bob Thornton in his first film since 1996's Sling Blade, proving he is a filmmaker with strong instincts. Still, Pretty Horses' brevity in some moments hints there was a richer, more shaded picture before its heavy re-editing, and as a result, the work is sometimes a bit unsteady. That said, the script is extremely well-adapted by Ted Tally (who skillfully transferred The Silence of the Lambs to the screen), capturing the rugged beauty of the West with complete authenticity. The leads are believable and well cast (though Penelope Cruz still struggles with her American characterizations), and despite its shortcomings, the movie remains an admirable and reverential poem to a much-forgotten time. Remarkably, Pretty Horses' tumultuous production history isn't apparent in the final version, although a reported two hours of footage was cut from it; the battle over final cut eventually led Miramax Films to take over domestic distribution from partner Columbia Pictures. Additionally, Damon ended up taking the lead role after Leonardo DiCaprio passed on it, a redux of Damon's casting in The Talented Mr. Ripley, another DiCaprio pass. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Max Biscoe - Art Director, Richard Johnson - Art Director, Mary Vernieu - Casting, Anne McCarthy - Casting, Bruce Heller - Co-producer, Mary Ann Madden - Co-producer, Doug Hall - Costume Designer, Jim Hensz - First Assistant Director, Billy Bob Thornton - Director, Fred Murphy - Second Unit Director, Sally Menke - Editor, Jonathan Gordon - Executive Producer, Sally Menke - Executive Producer, Marty Stuart - Composer (Music Score), K. Alexander Wilkinson - Composer (Music Score), Larry Paxton - Composer (Music Score), Clark Hunter - Production Designer, Barry Markowitz - Cinematographer, Billy Bob Thornton - Producer, Robert Salerno - Producer, Thomas Minton - Set Designer, Paul Ledford - Sound Mixer, Stephen Flick - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter A. Brown - Sound/Sound Designer, Buddy Van Horn - Stunts Coordinator, Ted Tally - Screenwriter, Fred Murphy - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Fred Murphy - Additional Cinematography, Stephen Flick - Sound Director, Peter A. Brown - Sound Director, Lisa Satriano - Second Unit Assistant Director, Traci Kirshbaum - Set Decorator, Cormac McCarthy - Book Author
The movie tells the story of John Grady Cole (Matt Damon), a sixteen year old cowboy, and his best friend Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas), crossing the border to move south to Mexico.
They encounter, among others, a young boy named Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black), whom they befriend, and a young aristocrat's daughter, Alejandra Villarreal (Penélope Cruz), with whom John Grady Cole falls in love. In Mexico he becomes disillusioned by the atrocities of the world.
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 Down and Dirty Pictures that this was at least partially done as payback for Thornton's refusal to cut Sling Blade down. In the end, Thornton was forced to cut the film down, which had an impact 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 original composer, 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. 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." The characters were also derided as undeveloped, and some reviewers considered there to be a lack of chemistry between the lead actors. The film's sweeping visuals, however, were consistently praised.[citation needed]
