All the Pretty Horses

Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Screenplay:Ted Tally (based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy)
Stars: Matt Damon (John Grady Cole), Henry Thomas (Lacey Rawlins), Penélope Cruz(Alejandra), Lucas Black (Jimmy Blevins), Rubén Blades (Rocha), Miriam Colon (DonaAlfonsa), Bruce Dern (Judge), Robert Patrick (Cole), Sam Shepard (J.C. Franklin)
MPAA Rating:PG-13
Year of Release: 2000
Country: USA

In Cormac McCarthy's 1992 novel All the Pretty Horses, it takes the main character,a young cowboy from Texas named John Grady Cole, almost half an hour to tell a judge thestory of what happened to him from the time he left his Texas ranch to find work in Mexicoto the point where he ends up in the courtroom. Director Billy Bob Thornon, on the otherhand, takes two and a half hours to tell that story in his film adaptation, and it appears that heneeded more time.

Originally, Thornton had submitted a four-hour cut of the film and was promptly sent back tothe editing room because Hollywood doesn't believe American audiences can sit still for morethan 150 minutes ... at the longest. Whether or not another hour and a half would haveimproved Thornton's film will never be known unless it shows up in a director's cut some dayon video.

One might surmise that it would be, given that the two-and-a-half hour theatrical version givesthe hint of something that might have been better with a little more time. As is, All thePretty Horses is a beautifully filmed modern Western that moves at a quick pace, butfeels clunky and ill-formed. Some passages flow smoothly, but other parts feel hacked upand slightly jumbled, as if something is missing.

The story follows two best friends--John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) and Lacey Rawlins(Henry Thomas)--who have always imagined that they would grow up to be ranchers.However, they were unfortunate enough to have been born in the 20th century, right about thetime when the industrial age finally swallowed up any remnants of the mythic Old West.When the film begins in 1949, John Grady's grandfather has just died, and his mother hassold their family ranch in San Angelo, Texas, to an oil company.

John Grady and Lacey take off for Mexico, having heard that there are still old-fashionedcattle ranches in operation there. "There are some ranches that are so big, you can't rideacross them in a week," John Grady proclaims. They are briefly joined by a 16-year-oldrunaway named Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black), and although Lacey distrusts the boy andthinks he will be trouble, John Grady insists that they help him out. Trouble arises whenBlevins tries to steal back his horse, which he lost during a thunderstorm, and eventually JohnGrady and Lacey are separated from him. However, by this point, events have alreadytranspired that will prove to have major repercussions later down the road.

Meanwhile, John Grady and Lacey land ranch-hand jobs with a wealthy Mexican ranchernamed Don Hector Rocha y Villarel (Rubén Blades). John Grady impresses Rocha with hisknowledge of, and ability to break, wild mustangs. More trouble arises, however, when JohnGrady falls in love with Alejandra (Penélope Cruz), Rocha's free-spirited daughter. This isjust the beginning, however, as the paths of John Grady and Lacey eventually cross againwith Jimmy Blevins, except this time in a Mexican jail and at the mercy of a cruel and corruptpolice captain.

The screenplay, adapted from McCarthy's National Book Award-winning novel by Ted Tally,who won an Oscar for adapting The Silence of the Lambs, sticks close to the source,lifting entire sections of dialogue verbatim. It is hard to tell, knowing how much of theintended film was left on the editing room floor, just how successful Tally's adaptation was.Several crucial relationships, especially the one between John Grady and Alejandra, don't feelfully formed (some have blamed this on a complete lack of chemistry between Damon andCruz, an argument that is not without merit). Thus, when they meet up again near the end ofthe film, the full force of their tragic love affair is not felt.

Part of the problem may be that Matt Damon doesn't feel quite right for the part of JohnGrady. He plays him as too stoic, and it is only through the moments of physical violencethat he exudes any real energy. Henry Thomas works well as Lacey, and Lucas Black, whoplayed a crucial role in Thornton's directorial debut, Sling Blade (1996), is excellentas the young troublemaker Blevins.

Thornton certainly shows he has an eye for beautiful imagery, and the manner in which heand cinematographer Barry Markowitz capture the daunting southwestern landscape wouldhave impressed John Ford. Thornton gives the film scope, but it's lacking a real heart. Thecharacters don't jump out of the screen the way they jumped off McCarthy's pages, anddespite a voice-over narration, John Grady's soul-searching introspection is largely lost, withthe exception of a brief scene between him and the judge (Bruce Dern) at the end of the film.By then, of course, it is far too late to achieve any real sense of profundity.

Copyright ©2001 James Kendrick



Overall Rating: (2.5)




James Kendrick

James Kendrick offers, exclusively on Qnetwork, over 2,500 reviews on a wide range of films. All films have a star rating and you can search in a variety of ways for the type of movie you want. If you're just looking for a good movie, then feel free to browse our library of Movie Reviews.


© 1998 - 2024 Qnetwork.com - All logos and trademarks in this site are the property of their respective owner.