Couldn't be worse without a 45 minute mime scene.

Rating: 4/10 (7 October 2007)

I really wanted to like this movie. And I did enjoy the actors (Ben Foster particularly) for trying to make this work. Technically the film is flawed, which contributes to an overall feeling of being unfinished. The music, which is of course subjective, tries to be evocative of the genius Ennio Morricone scores of the Leone westerns. This fails miserably, because it draws attention to how poor the cinematography is. In Leone's spaghetti westerns, you have amazing beautiful landscapes contrasted with extreme closeups. Everyone has character. Everyone is defined. Here we have very short cuts early on destroying any sense of pace, edited poorly and simply framed poorly. Add to that the steadicam shake that is simply distracting for a film shot this much in closeup and you have a film that's cinematography is simply inexcusable for this day and age. In Ford's westerns, the landscape is used to full advantage. Leone's westerns are breathtaking marvels of wide open landscape. To be more modern, Open Range's scenery is absolutely stunning. This could have been shot in a trailer park or a lumber yard. It really can not be overstated how poor the scenery and cinematography is.
SPOILERS BELOW
From start to finish the major problem with this movie is the characters. Characters who are ex-military behave as poorly as possible in a gunfight (getting near a campfire in the middle of a gunfight in the dark), people who would never touch guns form mobs to kill lawmen for $200, and we have a prisoner who despite being a remorseless icy killer of dozens of people refuses to escape. Not only does he refuse to escape, but he saves the lives of his CAPTORS, returns to them, and then continues to be a prisoner. He pulls DYNAMITE out to help them all escape conveniently later, and after exchanging recipes for cookies with one of them decides to not only let him singlehanded try to get him on the train, but to virtually carry him to the station. Of course, since you've already abandoned all logic by this point, you may as well have the bad guy kill his entire posse who rescue him. Of course, he may as well get on the train by himself to just go to jail. I have seldom seen so many plot holes, and rarely been as irate upon leaving the theater. Just because there aren't many westerns produced year by year, that doesn't mean anything that is a western gets a pass for being this poor. There are some really good modern westerns that find their own way. I delight in westerns. I own the vast majority of Leone and Eastwood directed westerns and some John Ford ones. I would probably say Lonesome Dove is among the very best. I would in no uncertain terms recommend any of the films I have listed here. If you get the absolute worst of Ford, Leone, Costner, or even Jarmusch you are head and shoulders much better off than seeing this abomination. Oh and a note to the writers: Amputees from the civil war era didn't exactly jump off of roofs and run around all over the place.