Prior to watching Kevin Costner’s first directed film in over two decades, I looked at my Letterboxd account to realize that this film would only be the eleventh western film I have ever seen in the theater.
Granted, this is largely due to my age (which is why my first “western” experience in the theater was sadly 1999’s infamous Wild Wild West), so it is safe to say all the westerns I have seen have been on a smaller screen. It was with this lack of big screen western experience and the fact that Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has a 40% score on rottentomatoes (it was not screened for many critics, which is rarely a good sign) that I went to see the film,…and was actually surprised at it.
There is no beating around the bush: To explain everything plot wise would take me until Chapter 2’s release. What I can say is the film has multiple plot lines of characters on their way to the titular town of Horizon in Arizona during the years of the Civil War. Some of these include
- Hayes Ellison (Costner) is a drifter who soon becomes attached to a prostitute named Marigold (Abbey Lee), and they soon find themselves on the run due to a situation with her housemate Lucy (Jena Malone).
- After a horrific event, Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller) tags along with a regiment of soldiers led by First Lt Trent Gephardt (Sam Worthington).
- A wagon train led by Matthew Van Weyden (Luke Wilson, doing some of the best work I have seen from him in far too long) has its share of drama (is wagon class warfare a thing?) as it makes its way to Horizon.
This does not account for the other plot lines, nor the rest of the cast that includes Michael Angarano, Giovanni Ribisi, Danny Huston, Tom Payne, Jaime Campbell Bower, Michael Rooker, and Will Patton.
As is the case with any long movie, one would be prone to checking their watch. I was doing so for a different reason, for when I reached an hour mark, I realized how well suited this story would have been had it been a mini series. Of course, Costner is no stranger to TV (I have not seen any of Hatfield and McCoys or Yellowstone), but he decided to take his story (which I read that he has had in mind since around the time of Dances with Wolves) to the big screen.
Still, even after two plus decades away from the director’s chair (at least for the cinema), Costner still knows what he is doing. There are some rather riveting scenes such as the raid of a town that, while not as violent as it could have been, is still deeply upsetting and riveting. There is also a tension building stand off of sorts between two characters, which is nearly equaled by a scene in which a young boy is sent in to buy guns. All this is done with the gorgeous backdrop of the old west (albeit on digital and not film).
Parents, even if a child exists that can stand a three hour movie, the R rating is justified. There is violence, swearing, and one scene of nudity (a character decides to take a bath using a pitcher of water.) So yes, don’t bring the kids.
Chapter 2 is scheduled to hit theaters in mid august, while Costner is still planning on chapters three and four. Since it is looking rather inevitable that this film will do rather poorly at the box office, it remains to be seen if the latter chapters will happen or not. Regardless of what the RT score may be, Costner is giving off enough vibes of old school westerns (How the West was Won is a key one), resulting in me intrigued enough to see what happens in chapter two.
No matter the run time.
Overall:
Nothing else to say 