Mixed

Rating: Null/10 (26 March 2002)

I really wanted to hate this movie--I went in with the worst possible expectations, there just wasn't anything else on and I wanted some background noise. I ended up watching most of it, and darned if it wasn't mildly entertaining.
There are very deep flaws, primary among them being its self conscious attempt at being epic. Not merely the grand sweep of the cinematography, which is spectacular by the way (nothing more beautiful than the American west), but rather also the disintegrating family amidst times of war and turmoil. It's all very Magnificent Ambersons meets Bonanza.
Pitt adequately pulls off the role, though the character is obviously drawn as a golden boy, manly guy, with a tortured sentimental side. Ugh.
And then of course there's the historical sweep of the movie, someone famous said that "history is just one damn thing after another", which fits this movie pretty well. There's the Indian Wars, World War I, Bootlegging, Congressional politics, sailing the south seas, and even a reference to the Volstead Act.
And though the plot twists often don't make any sense (here's a major SPOILER to follow, so I'd skip a bit). For instance when Julia Ormond commits suicide, it's a bit much; and I thought the enmity between Aidan Quinn and Anthony Hopkins, while well done, doesn't quite work. It kind of comes out of nowhere, same with his ability to forgive Pitt's Tristan virtually any sin. And the end, where Quinn comes out of nowhere to shoot down a menacing crooked cop in the final showdown, come on--that's bush league scriptwriting.
Even so, I enjoyed it ultimately, even if it was a mixed bag. I could give it a positive, still go in with low expectations, which is tough to do with a movie that's almost three hours long.