The era of westerns is now pretty much over. The clichéd but entertaining Costner directed Open Range refuses to give up hope on the matter, though it borrows heavily from previous westerns.
The film is set in the early 1880s, where the days of free cattle ranging are coming to an end. The aging but still notable actor Robert Duvall plays Boss Spearman, while Costner is his sidekick Charlie Waite. They are joined by two inexperienced youngsters and a dog. They arrive at a corrupt town run by a corrupt Irish immigrant land owner who controls the town’s corrupt sheriff. The sheriff’s deputies shoot up their encampment, killing the dog and killing and wounded the two young cattle drivers, prompting Spearman and Waite to settle out on revenge.
Costner uses a traditional and by now tired cowboy western story as the basis for his plot, the outnumbered and outgunned good, truthful cowboys against the bad, corrupt sheriff and his ‘owner’ who control the oppressed town with an iron fist. In addition, he adds a tired romance subplot that doesn’t gain any new ground, though does keep the story from feeling completely dry.
Costner, and especially Duvall, are well accomplished western actors. Duvall adds a few spots of humor, though as director, Costner has himself carry the show. Michael Jeter, in one of his last film roles, is the barn hand who sides with Waite and Spearman. Annette Benning plays Waite’s love interest and the main focus of the subplot, which I briefly explained about above.
Open Range is a collection of previous western films. Not that it was a tired rehash, but there was a lot about it that made me feel I had already seen it all before. Open Range did make enjoyable use of its predictability however.
***/5
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