Epic western barely makes it out of the corral

by James Fowler
FOR THE POST

With so much going for it, All the Pretty Horses seems like a guaranteed hit. Based on the award-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, the movie is a modern western, and there is the promise of a Matt Damon/Penelope Cruz romance. Nevertheless, Billy Bob Thornton's latest directorial effort is a botched affair. It is not bad, but it is not compelling either. Like the horses themselves, the film makes it out of the corral, but not much happens after that.

The film's release has been delayed for more than a year because Thornton has supposedly been arguing with studio heads over the final cut. His original version, which reportedly was three hours, has been whittled down to just under two, and this hurts the movie. The motivations and passions of each character are quickly sketched, and the audience will find it difficult to relate to most of the people on screen.

The film begins with an odd prologue that tells the story of John Cole Grady (Matt Damon). After his divorced mother sells the family ranch in 1949, Cole and his friend Lacey Rawlings (Henry Thomas) head south to Mexico for some good old-fashioned cowboy fun. Presumably, the trip is a rite of passage, but the it's reason is never made clear. The background is too short, and one cannot help but wonder what was cut out of the original version. The big sky vistas and the impressive cinematography of the film's opening moments overshadow Damon's and Thomas' characters.

Lucas Black gives the movie's best performance as Jimmy Blevins, a troublemaking teenage horse thief that John and Lacey meet along their journey. Unlike the film's protagonists, Black looks and "acts" like a real cowpoke. His one-liners add some life to the film, but alas, he departs (as should the viewer) long before the movie actually ends.

As for the star-crossed love affair between Damon's and Cruz's characters, it too is underdeveloped. After Rocha (Ruben Blades) hires John and Lacey to work on his horse farm, John falls in love with Rocha's daughter, Alejandra (Cruz). Damon and Cruz do not have enough scenes together to make the romance believable, and the talented Spanish actress is given little to do except look pretty and, once in a while, stare longingly at Damon.

The movie becomes interesting when a revenge plot complicates matters. John and Lacey wind up in prison, and a cool knife fight adds some action to the film. But it is all downhill from there as the film stumbles to its uninspired conclusion. Assuming that the movie's best parts were left on the cutting room floor, one cannot help but wonder what might have been. Perhaps one day, a director's cut will be released on DVD that shows Thornton's real film.

As it stands, All the Pretty Horses is not an incomplete masterpiece. It is just incomplete.