Drunk On Its Own Whiskey

Rating: 5/10 (25 December 2017)

OK, can't really fault the acting in this movie, except perhaps from Brad Pitt. I can't fault the production value. It's beautifully shot. It held my attention well enough. But I had problems with it when I first saw it back in1994, and having watched it again more than twenty years later, I haven't changed my mind. The primary issue? Pitt's character, Tristan. He's the heart of the story, he's meant to be, if not heroic, at least sympathetic and compelling. Instead, to me, he's just a self-absorbed, arrogant, emo jerk. His hair drove me crazy. That might seem shallow, but he looked like a man on the cover of a trashy romance novel. It's like his hair WAS his character. Like Pitt was kind of acting with his hair. I found myself siding with Aidan Quinn's character, Alfred, instead. Not that Alfred isn't meant to be sympathetic too, but overall I think the movie judges him unfairly, as do the other characters. Maybe it's because Aidan Quinn is just a much better actor, IMO, but mainly I just felt he got a raw deal. I won't say why because I don't want to spoil anything. As for the others, Anthony Hopkins is great as always. Julia Ormond is GORGEOUS here and performs quite well. Her character broke my heart. Finally, I thought the treatment of the Native American characters and how they informed the themes was rather pat. Not racist, just stereotyped. And it's a sexist movie too. I'm not usually a stickler about that, but here, for some reason, it really bothered me. But again, I'd say Tristan is the central problem. And when the central character doesn't work for you, the movie probably won't work for you either. I completely understand why so many viewers love this movie. It's just not for me.