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It’s a truism of frontier history that many early settlers were simply people who couldn’t get along with their neighbors in civilized territory. Many of them were on the run from the law, from inconvenient family obligations, or from creditors. In the American west in the late nineteenth century, the situation was further complicated by the social and psychological aftermath of the Civil War, and especially of the ruthless bushwhacking and banditry that characterized the frontier border states. After the war, hundreds of men, desensitized to violence, socially rootless, economically destitute, well-armed and trained to kill, were loosed on the frontier. Some became lawmen, some became outlaws, and some tried to forget it all. One such man is Charlie (Kevin Costner), who has taken refuge in an isolated existence herding cattle on the unclaimed open range in the employ of “Boss” Spearman (Robert Duvall).br /br /Unfortunately for Charlie, the open range of unclaimed land upon which freelance cattlemen could graze their herds is giving way to the development of towns and the inevitable attendant political and economic power grabs. The open range is becoming more and more constricted by the demands of civilization, and free-ranger herders like Charlie and Boss are doomed to clash with those who want to enclose the commons as private property. Some of those enclosers are not above using violence to eradicate anyone who stands in their way.br /br /The scenery and cinematography in Open Range are gorgeous. Unlike the arid landscape of John Ford’s classic Monument Valley westerns, this land looks lush enough to be capable of growing salable cattle. It’s land productive enough to be worth fighting over.br /br /As one might suspect, there’s a substantial amount of violence in the film. It’s not glamorous. It’s chaotic and brutal and ugly. Open Range, like many historians, attributes the effectiveness of the most “successful” killers to their sociopathic desensitization to killing, their ability to unhesitatingly murder others in the blink of an eye, seizing the initiative and then taking advantage of the resulting disorientation to further decimate, intimidate, and disorganize the enemy. At one point in the film, as a threatened showdown looms, Charlie coldly and matter-of-factly analyzes the opposing side’s “soldiers”, identifying which ones are likely to freeze up or react slowly, who’s likely to panic or fire wildly, and who poses the greatest threat and thus must be pre-emptively eliminated. Such men have difficulty fitting into a world where sets of rose-patterned teacups are cherished.br /br /Unlike the townspeople of some classic films, the townspeople in Open Range are not mere props who stand around like bystanders and conveniently disappear once the bullets start to fly. Depending on the situation, they flee the town, hide, or shoot back with rifles and shotguns. When necessary, they drag bodies off the street and tend to the wounded.br /br /There’s an understated, slowly-developing romantic subplot, although some aspects of it seem forced. It’s hard to imagine that an attractive woman with no apparent prejudice against men, such as Annette Bening’s character, would have remained single for very long on the frontier, given the unbalanced ratio of men to women. But it is refreshing to, for once, see a middle-aged male lead slowly and haltingly develop a relationship with a believably middle-aged woman, rather than tumbling some 19-year-old sexpot. Bening is both authentically windworn and powerfully attractive in her role as an independent-minded and educated woman who quietly chafes against the social customs that keep her from achieving her ambitions, but has to live with them nonetheless. Just why she would be attracted to a borderline sociopath is not explained, but there’s a nice teacup motif that helps ease things along.br /br /Blooper alert: Be on the lookout for a close-up shot of a character standing next to a broken-down barbed wire fence which is totally absent from the long-angle shots immediately before and after. I felt sure that someone, sometime in the movie, was going to refer to the conflict between those who wanted to enclose land with barbed wire and those who wanted to move herds freely across it, but only this short blooper and one or two store signs in town even acknowledge the stuff. If there was a subplot here, most of it got left on the cutting-room floor. Perhaps Costner decided that portraying “good guys” Charlie and Boss vandalizing fences would cost them audience sympathy.
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Packed with epic action, OPEN RANGE is a powerfully gripping story that’s never been told until now, and stars Academy Award(R) winners Robert Duvall (1983 Best Actor, TENDER MERCIES) and Kevin Costner (1991 Best Director, DANCES WITH WOLVES), and Academy Award(R) nominee Annette Bening (1999 Best Actress, AMERICAN BEAUTY). A group of free grazers, four men trying to escape their past, are driving cattle and living off the land on the open range — a place where nature makes the only laws. When a ruthless, evil rancher tries to run them out of town, the men’s peaceful existence takes a tumultuous turn and ends in the grittiest, most explosive gunfight on film as two men battle a town for honor, justice, and a way of life that’s quickly disappearing.
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Released almost exactly 11 years after Clint Eastwood’s IUnforgiven/I, Kevin Costner’s IOpen Range/I proved yet again that the Western is Ithe/I classic American genre. While it lacks the thematic impact of Eastwood’s masterpiece, Costner’s first film since 1997’s ill-fated IThe Postman/I returns the actor/director of IDances With Wolves/I to the open prairies of America–in this case the free-range frontier of 1882–where legal “free-grazing” cattle drives were falling prey to empire-building land-owners. In the wake of territorial murder, free-grazing cowboys Boss (Robert Duvall) and Charley (Costner) seek vengeful justice against the ruthless rancher (Michael Gambon) who threatens their law-abiding survival. A feisty ally (the late Michael Jeter, in his next-to-final film role) and a doctor’s sister (Annette Bening) offer support during climactic shootouts, masterfully staged with the shock and suddenness of real-life gunfire. Rich in character development and thick-hided humor, this handsome production redeemed Costner’s directorial career with a well-told story (by Craig Storper, based on Lauran Paine’s novel IThe Open Range Men/I), flawless performances, and stunning Canadian locations. I–Jeff Shannon/I
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This western has it all – J. Munyon –
A really good western needs strong characters. Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, and Annette Bening fill that requirement and then some. A really good western needs a subtle romance. Kevin’s and Annette’s characters fill that need just fine. A really good western needs somebody who needs killed to get killed. This movie takes care of that perfectly. The story is about a little hick town where a bully gets his way by force, but some outsiders come along and change things quite a bit. Robert Duvall is as great in this film as much as he is in anything he acts in. Big name people sometimes rest on their namesake and don’t put their heart into it like they should. That definitely wasn’t true here. I wasn’t disappointed about any part of this movie and recommend buying it for viewing over and over and over. I actually wore out my first copy of this movie and had to buy a second copy. This western has everything I look for in a western. Only an extreme hard core John Wayne fan would disagree.
Took Forever… – Gemini – Snellville, GA
DVD is in great condition and shows great! However, delivery time was terrible! Ordered another DVD on the same day from another seller and received it within 7-10 days. This took almost a month! Not good…not good at all!
DVD Open Range – John H. Danner – Powell, TN USA
I received the product in a most reasonable time. It was excellent condition and I must admit I was a bit skeptical in buying what I thought might be a used product. Condition of the material was as new and I am very well pleased ..
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