{"id":772,"date":"2017-01-28T22:43:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-29T03:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=772"},"modified":"2017-06-13T18:42:01","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T22:42:01","slug":"open-range-a-short-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/28\/open-range-a-short-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Range \u2013 A Short Movie Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

True Grit: The Duke, The Dude and The Dutiful Daughter; Part I<\/a><\/p>\n

True Grit – Part 2, Rooster Redux<\/a><\/p>\n

Having been born in the fifties of the last century I am familiar with westerns from the early days of Hollywood and the later era in the sixties.\u00a0 Now these two styles were as different as night and day.\u00a0 The earlier movies represented a simpler more idealized version of the old west.\u00a0 The sixties represented the era of the anti-hero and the anti-heroic west.\u00a0 Both of these periods produced memorable films.\u00a0 I have favorites from both periods and depending on the mood can enjoy either.\u00a0 In the last twenty years, some good westerns have been made.\u00a0 Interestingly they represent an evolution that contains aspects of both these earlier film types.\u00a0 Unlike the earlier films, they do not represent an idealized world and at the same time they lack the relentlessly negative depiction of the sixties western.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say it\u2019s a more balanced approach.\u00a0 So, some of these new movies appeal to me for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 Some are remakes of earlier classics.\u00a0 One of these, True Grit<\/a>, I\u2019ve already reviewed.\u00a0 Some are new stories like Open Range.\u00a0 I\u2019ll say what I like about this story and why.<\/p>\n

The plot of the story is a familiar one.\u00a0 It\u2019s settlers versus herders.\u00a0 A small herd owner passes through a town run by a rich tyrannical landowner, Denton Baxter (played to the hilt by Michael Gambon) who controls the sheriff and attacks and kills any free grazing herders that come through his land. \u00a0His men attack and kill one of the cowboys and injure another.\u00a0 The herd owner, Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), and his lead man, Charlie Waite (Kevin Costner), come back to the town to get a doctor for their shot friend and to get justice.\u00a0 The narrative runs to a climactic gun fight. \u00a0 Mixed in is a love story between Waite and the doctor\u2019s sister, Sue Barlow (Annette Bening).\u00a0 Seeing as Costner and Bening aren\u2019t kids anymore, the love story is appealing to people of my generation and fits in with the theme of a changing world closing off one familiar lifestyle while opening up a better one to those willing to see.<\/p>\n

So, this is a pretty standard plot.\u00a0 Why do I like it?<\/p>\n

First off, the look and feel of the movie.\u00a0 It must have been filmed in the Canadian Rockies.\u00a0 The panoramic views and the outdoor scenes are fantastic to look at.\u00a0 The scenes in the town look good.\u00a0 They spent enough money to make the sets look authentic.\u00a0 The soundtrack is first rate.<\/p>\n

Second, the portrayals by all the leads and many of the supporting characters are well done and very engaging.\u00a0 I\u2019m a fan of Duvall\u2019s and the chemistry between him and Costner makes the movie work.\u00a0 The Costner\/Bening love story is understated and enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Third and most important, the gun fight at the end is epic.\u00a0 Our heroes Duvall and Costner line up against five men and then fight their way through the rest of the gang to stay alive and win the day. \u00a0So why is it so good?\u00a0 Well first off, these have to be the loudest guns ever fired.\u00a0 Even sitting in my living room, I can feel the percussion rattling my teeth.\u00a0 Honestly, I doubt there were Iowa Class battleships with guns this robust.\u00a0 Secondly, Kevin Costner was lucky enough to own revolvers that were twenty-five-shooters.\u00a0 He would peel off ten shots at one adversary before moving on to another dozen shots at the next opponent.\u00a0 This can be both dramatically useful and conducive to a gunfighter\u2019s health.\u00a0 And finally, the bad guys are so enjoyably bad.\u00a0 One villain even brags about how much he enjoyed shooting someone in the head just as he himself gets shot practically right between the eyes.\u00a0 The lead villain, Baxter is continuously issuing threats and insults at anyone he sees and is thoroughly despicable.\u00a0 It\u2019s truly a pleasure seeing him dispatched by our heroes\u2019 thunderously loud and apparently infinitely loaded shooting irons.<\/p>\n

Open Range is one of my favorite modern westerns.\u00a0 In style, I think it throws back more to the pre-sixties westerns.\u00a0 But it is so well-acted and generally well made that it actually updates many of the conventions it adheres to and gives them new life.\u00a0 I highly recommend it.\u00a0 And the ladies like it too.\u00a0 So, throw it in for date night.\u00a0 You can\u2019t go wrong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

True Grit: The Duke, The Dude and The Dutiful Daughter; Part I True Grit – Part 2, Rooster Redux Having been born in the fifties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,239,237],"tags":[43,38,97],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-movie-review","tag-review","tag-westerns"],"yoast_head":"\nOpen Range \u2013 A Short Movie Review - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/28\/open-range-a-short-movie-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open Range \u2013 A Short Movie Review - 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