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Open Range is a 2003 movie based on the novel The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine. The film starred Kevin Costner, who also produced and directed. Also starring were Robert Duvall and Annette Bening. Supporting actors:
Overview The movie properly belongs to the epic Western genre and has the feel of Costner' earlier epic, Dances with Wolves (1990). The movie is set in Montana in 1882 (the year is seen on a new grave marker) though the movie was filmed in both the United States and Canada. The background of the movie concerns the "range wars" that occurred in the American West in the late 1800s. The "wars" pitted those that believed in the "Law of the Open Range" - free access to water and grass for everyone, against the "barbed wire" men - land barons, who used the new fencing to define their empire and block the free-range cattlemen from moving their herds. Plot summary "Boss" Spearman (Duvall) is a free-range cattleman, who, with his hired hands, Charley Waite (Costner), Mose (Benrubi), and Button (Luna), and their dog Tig are driving a herd cross country. Charley is a former army sniper and soldier who fought in the American Civil War — presumably on the Confederate side— who feels guilt over his past as a killer. Short on supplies, Boss sends Mose back to a town they passed. The town is controlled by the greedy and corrupt land baron, Denton Baxter, who hates free-rangers. Mose is badly beaten by Baxter's henchmen and then jailed by the town sheriff, whom Baxter "owns." Worried about Mose, Boss and Charley set off to find him. They retrieve Mose from jail but not before getting a stern warning from Baxter about free-ranging on his land. Mose is so beat-up that Boss seeks medical attention for him. Mose is taken to Doc Barlow, where Charley meets Sue Barlow (Bening), the doctor's "wife" (who in fact turns out to be the doctor's sister), and Charley is attracted to her immediately. Baxter does not really want Boss to move on; he wants the herd. Boss and Charley are able to best one of the groups of Baxter's henchmen, and send them back on foot in their underwear. There is another group, however, that kills Mose and Tig. Button is badly injured and left for dead. Seeking medical attention for Button, Boss and Charley return to Doc Barlow's and a final showdown with Baxter and his gang. In the climax, guns blaze, evil is punished, Charley rehabilitates himself somewhat, and romance blossoms between Charley and Sue. Responses Reviews were largely positive and the film was a modest success at the box office. Special attention is paid to this film in niche circles because of its elaborately designed and technical gunfight: along with such films as The Way of the Gun and Heat, the climactic showdown lasts well over ten minutes and features visceral gunplay. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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