Open Range (2003)

Open Range is a 2003 American western film directed and co-produced by Kevin Costner, starring Robert Duvall and Costner, with Annette Bening, Michael Gambon, and Michael Jeter appearing in supporting roles. The film was the final on-screen appearance of Jeter, who died before it

Directed by Kevin Costner. With Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Diego Luna, Abraham Benrubi. A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

Trailer for Kevin Costner's film starring Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Michael Gambon, Michael Jeter, Diego Luna, James Russo, Abraham Benru...

Boss Spearman, Charley Waite, Mose Harrison and Button freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing a friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward herd forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt sheriff and kingpin rancher who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss and Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards an inevitable showdown, as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all too quickly vanishing. Amidst the turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for the loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm spirited Sue Barlow, a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul.

One of the many ways in which the Western has become old-fashioned is that the characters have values, and act on them. Modern action movies have replaced values with team loyalty; the characters do what they do because they want to win and they want the other side to lose. The underlying text of most classic Westerns is from the Bible: "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?" The underlying text of most modern action movies is from Vince Lombardi: "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Kevin Costner's "Open Range," an imperfect but deeply involving and beautifully made Western, works primarily because it expresses the personal values of a cowboy named Boss (Robert Duvall) and his employee of 10 years, Charley (Costner). Boss does not believe in unnecessary violence, and is willing to put his own life to risk rather than kill someone just to be on the safe side. Charley was an expert killer during the Civil War, and has spent 10 years under Boss trying to tame that side of his character. Boss is not only his friend but his mentor and, in a sense, his spiritual leader. Charley doesn't merely work with him, but follows him as a sort of disciple.

Kevin Costner believes in the Western. You can tell. There’s nothing ironic or deconstructionist about Open Range, the director-star’s archetypal tale of itinerant cowboy heroes (Costner and Robert Duvall) standing up to a bullying cattle rancher. More than Dances With Wolves, mo

Summary: Academy-Award winning director Kevin Costner ("Dances with Wolves") helms this traditional Western tale of a way of life that is quickly disappearing. (Touchstone Pictures)

A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

Whatever his faults as a filmmaker may be, Kevin Costner certainly understands the Western. Although Open Range is not on the same level as Dances with Wolves, it's a respectable effort that is only slightly marred by the unnecessarily protracted ...

Open Range summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.

Overview of Open Range, 2003, directed by Kevin Costner, with Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Robert Duvall, at Turner Classic Movies

Lauran Paine was an incredibly prolific author with over 1000 works credited to that name and his various pseudonyms. His immersion in the history of the West (having written several non-fiction books on the topic too) gives the story a near-universal feel for that genre, but it also means there are times when it can feel quite cookie-cutter. There are, however, revisionist undercurrents running through it, something which is teased out beautifully by Storper's screenplay and Costner's direction. It's a novel of second chances and beginning again, for both Charley and the people he comes into contact with.