Open Range - 2003

Touchstone Pictures, Cobalt Media, Beacon Pictures

Directed by Kevin Costner

Cast:

• Charley Waite – Kevin Costner
• Boss Spearman – Robert Duvall
• Sue Barlow – Annette Bening
• Denton Baxter – Michael Gambon
• Percy – Micheal Jeter
• Button – Diego Luna
• Sheriff Poole – James Russo
• Mose – Abraham Benrubi
• Doc Barlow – Dean McDermott
• Butler – Kim Coates

Story: Its 1882 and a small band of cattle ranchers are moving a herd to sale. They are a motley crew, with two experienced men, Boss and Charley, a cook and general hand, Mose, and Button, a boy learning the ropes who was adopted into the crew a couple years back. As they are moving along, they endure a hard rainstorm and are stuck in the area until it blows over. They decide the cattle are ready to move and send Mose back to a town they passed for supplies, but when he doesn't return on time, Boss and Charley head back to the town to discover their friend has been beaten by local thugs from the head rancher, Baxter, on his orders. He controls the town and the sheriff, and warns the “Free Rangers” to get their cattle and possessions off his property. They collect their friend and leave, but Baxter plans to make an example out of them by stealing their herd and killing them in the process. The showdown is inevitable, and Boss and Charley find some help in the townspeople who are also sick and tired of the way Baxter controls their town and their lives. During all this, Charley falls in love with and eventually proposes to the town doctor's sister, Sue, a lovely and quietly strong woman who has taken a fancy to the strong, silent cowboy.

Review: Shot entirely in Canada, Kevin Costner gives us a human insight into the daily lives of the frontier cattleman in the 1880's. There are no stereotype cowboys or bad guys, just people trying to go about their lives with as little friction as possible, until the Land Baron Dexter decides he will not have anyone using his property to graze their cattle without his permission. Robert Duvall is the consummate American Cowboy, the hard working, fair minded, easy going Boss who has a decency about him that is unmistakeable. Costner is a former drifter and Union soldier whose particular talents with a gun landed him in one of the infamous “raider” groups given the task of creating fear and havoc behind enemy lines. Annette Bening is the Doc's spinster sister who is quiet and demure, all the things you would expect of a frontier woman, but she isn't shy about speaking her mind. Michael Jeter, in his last performance, plays well as the straight talking stableman who comes to the aid of Boss and Charley. The scenery is magnificent, the photography flawless, and the film moves at a comfortable pace, not rushed but certainly not boring in any respect. And it has the added perk of not being another attempt by Costner at a cinematic tour de force. This film is what a western should be, and I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a good “oater”.