Open Range

From its gorgeous photography of the wide-open prairie--across which Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall drive cattle as some of the last "freegrazers" of the cowboy era--to the brutal, Peckinpah-worthy climactic shootout in a dusty town run by an ironfisted rancher (Michael Gambon), Open Range boasts some of Costner's best directorial work, emerging as a proud, powerfully acted slice of Americana. More Unforgiven than Dances With Wolves, it's an unpretentious story of rugged, peaceful men surrendering to the lure of revenge, after the rancher's henchmen attack their camp, killing one of their apprentices and leaving another at death's door because "no freegrazer's gonna take the food out of my cattle's mouths!" The brooding, undemonstrative Charley (Costner) and good-natured but now implacable Boss (Duvall) both find their souls--Charley by falling in love with the spinster sister (Annette Bening) of the doctor treating their wounded--even as their presence puts lives at risk and the tiny town on edge. A daring, if occasionally obvious, adult action-drama, Open Range is that rare Western that deserves a much wider audience. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras on this double-disc set include audio commentary by director/costar Kevin Costner, the 66-minute “Beyond Open Range” director's journal (including segments on wardrobe, pre-production, location, and gunfights), the 13-minute “America's Open Range” historical featurette, 12 deleted scenes (with optional selected onscreen commentary by Costner), a seven-minute storyboard montage, the four-minute “Broken Wagon” music video montage, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a solid film.] (R. Blackwelder)