Open Range
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| Open Range | |
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| Directed by | Kevin Costner |
| Produced by | Kevin Costner Jake Eberts David Valdes |
| Written by | Craig Storper Lauran Paine |
| Starring | Robert Duvall Kevin Costner Annette Bening |
| Distributed by | TouchstonePictures Beacon Communications |
| Release date(s) | August 15, 2003 |
| Running time | 139 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Open Range is a 2003 movie based on the novel The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine. The film starred Kevin Costner, who also produced and directed. Also starring were Robert Duvall and Annette Bening.
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[edit] Overview
The movie properly belongs to the epic Western genre and has the feel of Costner's earlier epic, Dances with Wolves (1990). The movie is set in Montana in 1882 (the year is seen on a new grave marker) though the movie was filmed in both the United States and Canada.
The background of the movie concerns the "range wars" that occurred in the American West in the late 1800s. The "wars" pitted those that believed in the "Law of the Open Range" - free access to water and grass for everyone, against the "barbed wire" men - land barons, who used the new fencing to define their empire and block the free-range cattlemen from moving their herds.
[edit] Plot summary
"Boss" Spearman (Duvall) is a free-range cattleman, who, with his hired hands, Charley Waite (Costner), Mose (Benrubi), and Button (Luna), and their dog Tig are driving a herd cross country. Charley is a former army sniper and soldier who fought in the American Civil War — presumably on the Confederate side — who feels guilt over his past as a killer.
Short on supplies, Boss sends Mose back to a town they passed. The town is controlled by the greedy and corrupt land baron, Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon), who hates free-rangers. Mose is badly beaten by Baxter's henchmen and then jailed by the town sheriff, whom Baxter "owns." Although greedy and corrupt, many tonwspeople look past the dealings, accepting the situation, while others secretly harbor animosity and anger towards Baxter.
Worried about Mose, Boss and Charley set off to find him. They retrieve Mose from jail but not before getting a stern warning from Baxter about free-ranging on his land. Mose is so beat-up that Boss seeks medical attention for him. Mose is taken to Doc Barlow, where Charley meets Sue Barlow (Bening), whom he mistakingly believes to be the doctor's "wife"; she is in fact the doctor's sister. Charley is attracted to her immediately.
It turns out that Baxter does not really want Boss to move on; he wants the herd. After seeing masked riders scouting the herd, Boss and Charley are able to best one of the groups of Baxter's henchmen, catching them unawares in the dark. After gaining information regarding Baxter, the henchmen are sent back to town on foot in their underwear. There is another group, however, that simulatenously kills Mose and Tig. Button is badly injured and left for dead.
Charley and Boss gather themselves, resolving to return to Baxter and his men what they visited upon Mose, Tig and Button. Charley then buries Mose and Tig beneath a tree on a hill, leaving behind a wooden headstone which simply states "Mose 1882". They leave Button at the doctor's house and enter town, where during a flash flood caused by severe rains, Charley saves a townsperson's dog. The townsman buys Boss and Charley coffee, who learn more about the mixed feelings of the inhabitants of the town.
The emotions finally culminate in a lopsided gunbattle, pitting Boss and Charley against Baxter and his henchmen. Aware of the looming shootout, most of the townspeople flee to the nearby hills. The shootout occurs, with Charley doing most of the shooting. Boss in wounded in the stomach during the fray. During the fight, some of Baxter's men flee. In the end, Baxter finds himself wounded and alone, trapped in a house with Boss, Charley, and some townspeople against him. Boss rushes Baxter, crashing through the house door and mortally wounding him. With the battle over, Charley (who it is discovered has been shot in the leg) witnesses the effects of the gunbattle; dead men, wounded bystanders, destroyed property, and a general sense of despair.
[edit] Responses
Reviews were largely positive and the film was a modest success at the box office. Special attention is paid to this film in niche circles because of its elaborately designed and technical gunfight:[citation needed] along with such films as The Way of the Gun and Heat, the climactic showdown lasts well over ten minutes and features visceral gunplay.
