Today I watched Open Range. It was a pretty good movie. Many may not like it because it is a Kevin Costner movie (Costner seems to have many haters), but Costner I think really blew it when he made The Postman, a horrendous movie. Waterworld and Dances with Wolves were not too bad, although not brilliant in my opinion. In Waterworld, I thought the hero's abilities were just too unbelievable. His swimming and fighting ability is so good and the little girl at the end was so sure she was going to be rescued that all suspense was sapped out.
Open Range features a very explosive and action-packed climatic showdown near the end. Guns fire everywhere and bodies literally fly (which according to Mythbusters is not realistic). Before and after this showdown, the film develops the characters and plot. Free-graziers go through a town led by a tyrant whose men manage to kill one of them as well as killing a dog. Two of the free-graziers, played by Costner and Duvall, vow to head into the town and take down the tyrant to avenge the death of their friend and dog. In true Western style, morality is settled by violence. However, in this Western, violence is used against the “state” and against the law, which goes against Biblical principles as well as putting the protagonist's actions into the realm of terrorism. Nevertheless, the American Constitution claims if government is corrupt then the people are to overtake it and that is why citizens bear arms.
To conclude, Open Range is a great movie. It is violent but there is nothing too gory, gruesome, or shocking.
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