Open Range

Plot

Kevin Costner stars in and directs the Western Open Range. Robert Duvall stars as Boss Spearman, a rugged old-timer who free-grazes cattle. He and Charley Waite (Costner) have been partners for ten years. As the film opens in the 1880s, the pair and their employees -- the beefy, rugged, likable Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and the impetuous Mexican teenager Buttons (Diego Luna) -- are driving cattle across the West. Mose is attacked and thrown in jail during a visit to a town. The local cattle rancher Baxter (Michael Gambon) wants the free grazers off his land and warns Charley and Boss when they retrieve Mose that they have until the next day to be out of the area. Boss decides to fight back, especially after Baxter's men do harm to the foursome. Charley confesses his past as a killer during the Civil War and strikes up a tentative romance with Sue Barlow -- the sister of the town doctor. The film's centerpiece is an extended gunfight between the duo (with some assistance from sympathetic townsfolk) and Baxter's hired gunmen. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Review

Bookended by somewhat flawed first and third acts, Kevin Costner's Open Range has a strong second act that makes it quite worthwhile. This simple tale about morality and revenge could easily have been filmed in the early '50s with John Wayne in the Costner part and Walter Brennan in the Boss Spearman role, although one is hard pressed to think anyone could be better than Robert Duvall, who manages to find the right mix -- part real person, part mythic evocation of the West -- to give this film the weight Costner is aiming for much of the time. The first 30 minutes of the film -- when the men are alone with the expansive land -- attempts to bring the viewer into the languid pace associated with Westerns, but occasionally blurs the line between leisurely and dull. Once they make their way into town, however, the film has a confidence that should keep any viewer involved. Costner the director displays talent throughout the film, although it wavers in some instances. The climactic gunfight, a very long sequence full of action, frightening stillness, tension, and occasional humor is brilliantly handled. The audience can see where everybody is and why people shoot when and where they do. At the same time, however, there is a scary, disorganized feeling in the speed of the shooting and in the camera angles that gives the audience the same sense of fear that the combatants are experiencing. The violence is real and visceral without being exploitive. Sadly, the flat-footed resolution of the love story between Costner and Annette Bening ends the film with a whimper rather than a bang. There are three scenes between the couple -- which is certainly one and probably two too many. But that misstep in the final ten minutes does not take away from the achievement that is the meat of Open Range. Costner has made a good film by displaying his knowledge of Westerns and his appreciation for Robert Duvall. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast

• Robert Duvall - Boss Spearman
• Kevin Costner - Charley Waite
• Annette Bening - Sue Barlow
• Michael Gambon - Denton Baxter
• Michael Jeter - Percy

Diego Luna - Button; James Russo - Sheriff Poole; Abraham Benrubi - Mose Harrison; Dean McDermott - Doc Barlow; Kim Coates - Butler

Credit

Gary Myers - Art Director, Mindy Marin - Casting, Coreen Mayrs - Casting, Heike Brandstatter - Casting, Jackie Lind - Casting, John Bloomfield - Costume Designer, L. David Silva - First Assistant Director, Kevin Costner - Director, Michael J. Duthie - Editor, Miklos Wright - Editor, Armyan Bernstein - Executive Producer, Craig Storper - Executive Producer, Michael Kamen - Composer (Music Score), Gae S. Buckley - Production Designer, Jim Muro - Cinematographer, Kevin Costner - Producer, Jake Eberts - Producer, David Valdes - Producer, Jeffrey L. Goldstein - Set Designer, Patty Klawonn - Set Designer, Mary Lou Storey - Set Designer, Peter Clemens - Set Designer, Sloane U'ren - Set Designer, Carl Stenzel - Set Designer, Glen Gauthier - Sound/Sound Designer, Norman Howell - Stunts Coordinator, Guy Bews - Stunts Coordinator, Craig Storper - Screenwriter, David J. Negron Jr. - Visual Effects Supervisor, Barney Cabral - Supervising Sound Editor, yU+Co - Visual Effects, Lauran Paine - Book Author

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