The scenery itself is worth the movie

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2008)

No wonder 'Legends' won the Oscar for cinematography. It was exquisite: even if I didn't have a few questions about the logic of the movie, I"d see it again just for the sake of all the anti-war comments made by Anthony Hopkins, the old Major. Strange that no one brought in the Thomas Jefferson quote concerning the 'terrible legacy of this country when its birth was based on the ignoble treatment of the indigents.' You definitely got the idea that this Major (from Boston, of course) was a highly educated man, who turned his disgust with our government into building a highly viable ranch in Montana.
The puppy dog looks given by Aidan Quinn at his brother's wife-to-be are embarrassing, as is his sad naivete, as he is rooked in by the Montana crooks to run for Congress. As such, the scene is set for his 'boys'...criminals one and all....to make life rough for our hero, Brad Pitt. Like my earlier idol, James Dean, he lives life in the wild, educated by his mentor, the noble savage (i.e., the same folks we stole this country from).
The problem I have with this movie is with Miss Seductress, who is given carte blanche by the narrator, as though the producers knew that we the public wouldn't be able to buy her 'innocence'. It takes two to tango, folks, and I'm not buying her falling for all 3 guys without some hint of imperfection shown. Especially when she tells Aidan, "no dice" and THEN, as he becomes a wealthy Congressman, marries him. You can't be both: a paragon of virtue and someone who marries for wealth alone.
Would love now to read the book, if one was written. The great beauty of my country is there for us all to see. Too bad that so many of the powerful human beings in it were models for the corruption in our government today.