Open Range- Kevin Costner’s return to the Western

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Open Range is Kevin Costner's return to the Western Genre, as a director after Dances with Wolves, and also a comeback, after a series of misfires during the 90s that included Waterworld and The Postman.

The movie revolves around Boss Spearman( Robert Duvall), an open range cattleman, and Charley Waite( Kevin Costner) a former Union soldier driving a cattle herd cross country. This brings them in conflict with the powerful rancher Denton Baxter( Michael Gambon) who controls the town of Harmonville, and hates the open rangers for using his land to feed their herds. When one of Spearman's associates Mose comes to town for supplies, he is jailed and beaten up by the corrupt marshall Poole(James Russo) that leads these two men into a conflict with Baxter.

However with the town completely under the iron fist of Baxter, no one is willing to back them, except Percy( Michael Jeter) a livery stable owner. There is also a romance between Charley and Sue Barlow( Annette Bening), the sister of the town's doctor.

While Costner has acted in various genres ranging from action thriller to sports dramas to romance to sci fi, the Western is one genre, where he seems to be particularly home at. Dances With Wolves is among my favorites to date, for a first time director, he pulls off a stunning epic, and the bison hunt scene has to be among one of the greatest ever movie scenes to date.

After the disaster of The Postman, he comes back right to form as a director and actor with this movie, way he captures the vast open plains of the Wild West, the action shots, the dramatic conflicts. While the story is very much a good guys vs bad guys one, it is Costner's narration that really makes it engaging.

Also the pairing with Robert Duvall, hits it off really well. Duvall is one actor on whom you could count to deliver in any kind of role, and he does that here too as the seasoned cattleman, trying to get the townsfolk to fight against the powerful rancher. Costner is equally good , as the Charley carrying the guilt of killing people. Annete Bening is as good as ever, and her romance with Costner has the right chemistry. Michael Gambon more famous as Albus Dumbledore in The Harry Potter series, is suitably nasty as the corrupt, ruthless rancher.

The camera work is as good as can be, capturing the wide open spaces, as well as the dark lit interiors, the rainy shots well. And an excellent music score by Michael Kamen.

If you are looking for a good old fashioned Western, that is engaging and well directed, go for this.