(12/15/02)

Considering that he has been in a serious slump since 1996, maybe even earlier, Kevin Costner is going back to his roots, sort a speak. When he directed Dances with Wolves in 1990 Costner established himself as one of Hollywood's leading men, and a darn good actor-director winning an Oscar. Since then he has struggled with his film selections. I don't think he's done anything of significance since 1993 and A Perfect World, which was an excellent movie and was his best performance in my mind. Tin Cup, sure, that was funny. Thirteen Days, yeah, pretty decent. But really nothing has equaled what he did in the late 80s and early 90s.

Just a couple of months ago Costner wrapped filming what might be a pivotal movie for him. He's directing and starring in yet another western, Open Range, written by newcomer Craig Storper. The draft I have is dated March 22, 2002 and should be very close to what's going to be on screen when this thing comes out in May 2003. The script is reportedly based on the novel, "The Open Range Men," by Lauran Paine.

The open range, the frontier, 1882, is the setting of this Western-Drama. The cast of main characters breaks down like this: Kevin Costner plays Charley Waite, Annette Bening plays the love interest, Sue, Abraham Benrubi plays Mose, Robert Duvall is the Boss, Michael Gambon plays the badguy, Baxter, Diego Luna plays the young buck name Buttons, and Dean McDermott plays Doc Barlow.

Charley, Mose, and Buttons work for Boss. They're on a cattle drive across No-Man's Land. They take advantage of the open range laws for free grazing their cattle. They get caught in a wicked rainstorm that pounds them for what seems like a couple days. They're stranded and have lost the cattle. When the rain lets up they go in search of the herd. After a while they manage to track them down. Needing supplies they send Mose, a big strapping lad with an even disposition, into the nearby town of Harmonville. By the next day when Mose has not returned, Charley and Boss go in search for him. They discover his tracks and learn he never left town. On arriving at Harmonville they notice his horse at the livery barn and ask if anyone has seen their friend. They learn he apparently caused a disturbance and was jailed, but not until after a fierce fight. Charley and Boss are not buying that Mose would start trouble. When they get to the jail, town Marshall Poole informs them of the charges and fines. They realize Mose was attacked and things get somewhat volatile, but not violent. Local rancher and for all practical purposes Town King, Baxter, shows up and lets them know that as "freegrazers" they are not welcomed. Boss argues its their right, threats are exchanged, and they are ordered to leave town in the morning and take their herd elsewhere. When they find Mose in his cell they discover he is severely beaten. Before leaving town they stop at the Doctor's home and that's when they meet Sue. The Doc patches up Mose, and later everyone comments on how pretty and sophisticated Sue was. A few days later when they are still unable to travel on account of Mose's condition, they are bushwhacked by Baxter's men and tragedy occurs. This leads to confrontation, a shoot-out, and upheaval in the open range and Harmonville.

The story recalls Unforgiven, but it's more in the vein of the classics. And I don't mean Spaghetti Westerns. Think more, High Noon meets Red River. I could see John Ford back in the day directing this and making it a classic. Could maybe even see this in the 70s and Clint Eastwood. Yup, back in the day.

Unfortunately the material felt dated. Unforgiven was phenomenal because it was a great character study. It was a new take on the same old thing, which made it different. The Western and gun slinging parts were secondary to the plight of the main character played by Clint Eastwoodthe tortured hero who at first reluctantly begins the journey.

Though the script pretends to present such a dilemma for Charley, Costner's character, the character revelation comes much too late to be very effective, at least in my opinion. As a matter of fact, almost all of the character development takes place during the latter half of the script when they are awaiting a showdown with Baxter and his men. So we're not able to take any kind of journey with these characters as people whom we get to know until later in the story.

That's not to say the script was bad or wasn't well written. The first act is pretty dramatic and when it ends with the death of one of the main characters it's downright sad. The writer moves the story along pretty effectively. The third act was absolutely riveting. The material really jumped of the page and captured my imagination during the second half. The shootout at the end was pretty formulaic, however it was exciting.

Overall, the script, in my opinion, was a little too weak in some areas. I found the dialogue to be lackluster and clich�ridden, as I did the characters for the most part. Not a lot of imagination it seems. The names of the characters for example: we have Boss and Mose. And you have the typical good guys: the gentle giant, the young smart kid who wants to take on the world, the old guy who is tough as nails but has a good heart, and the tortured hero who in the end takes up arms but still gets the girl. This may be a product of the source material not having a lot to work with, as I have not read the novel I do not know. The bad guy, Baxter, was a disaster. His character confused me more than anything. He's an important character when they enter the town and then he disappears for much of the script. I wasnt sure who was the dominate antagonist, which muddied things a little bit.

I like the Western genre. It's American, it's classic, and it really can capture your imagination when done right. I'm just not sold on this one yet.

Until next time.

--Chris