The wild west is ready for another appearance on the big screen and this time Kevin Costner is spearheading the campaign to bring back traditional western films. Armed with gun fights, saloon brawls and simplistic dialogue, Costner opens our eyes to what it’s like to live on the open range.
In his new film “Open Range,” Costner takes on the part of Charley Waite as well as taking a stab as director for the third time in his career. “Open Range” is the story of four cattle herding “freegrazers.” If you are not up on your wild west jargon, a freegrazer is a person who roams the countryside and doesn’t own any particular piece of land. Costner is accompanied by Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), Button (Diego Luna ) and Mose Harrison (Abraham Benrubi.) These four men travel across the countryside while protecting their herd from thieves that try to threaten their livelihood. In an attempt to do this, Mose is killed and Button is left fighting for his life. Boss and Charley go to the nearby town Harmonville to seek out Mose’s killers and to rid the locals of an evil rancher named Baxter (Michael Gambon).
One may wonder why Costner has made an attempt to revitalize the west among the frenzy of summer sequels and blockbusters. “Open Range” is going to be released in the middle of what has already become a battle for the box office. Currently, “American Wedding,” the third installment of the “American Pie” series, is topping the box office charts and following closely in its footsteps is yet another sequel: “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.” Rounding up the top three is “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” which has been holding its place in the top three since its debut on July 9. Costner has very high expectations and is very confident in this film.
“My goal is to make [the film]] authentic,” Costner said. “We haven’t seen a lot of good westerns, they’re costume parties.”
Although westerns are movies that are mostly targeted towards a testosterone-charged audience, Costner believes that his film is one that both women and men alike can go see.
“I make movies for men, but I think women can watch them.”
Costner falls short of his goal to make the old west more appealing to a younger audience. “Open Range” is a film that has a very slow beginning and cannot be watched without ample doses of No Dose and a can of Red Bull energy drink. The first half-hour is dull and drawn out and there are parts of the movie that are highly unbelievable such as Costner falling in love with Sue Barlow (Annette Benning) who is a 50-something-year-old woman, who they try to make look as if she is a 30-something, makeup is not that advanced yet, with crows feet and forehead lines it is hard to look youthful. The two have about a paragraph of dialogue throughout the movie, yet they fall hopelessly in love.
Costner said “it’s an entertaining movie.”
Mr. Costner is sadly mistaken.
