Open Range, a classic western directed by Kevin Costner

Open Range celebrates its 20th anniversary this evening on France 3. While waiting to discover the actor-director's new western in Cannes…

We have just learned that Kevin Costner was going to unveil his new achievement, Horizonas part of the 2024 Cannes festival. It will be out of competition, but it remains an event: the filmmaker had not set foot on the Croisette since 2003, and even then, it was not even to defend the one of his films!

While waiting to learn more about this ambitious western -Costner invested $50 million of his personal fortune to develop this film divided into several parts-, France 3 will rebroadcast this evening Open Rangewhich celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024. A classic achievement, which, if not as cult as Dancing with the wolves, still worth a look. Here is the review of First.

Kevin Costner selected at Cannes: “It’s been 20 years since I had the pleasure of returning to the Croisette”

Shouldn't have killed the dog. En route to accompany their herd, Boss Spearman and Charley Waite stop near a small town where they are attacked by the henchmen of local tyrant Denton Baxter. Results: one dead, one injured and a dog killed on Boss's side, who leaves with Charley to confront Baxter. In town, they attract the sympathy of some residents, in particular the doctor's sister…

Settling scores

Open Range is a classic western through and through. We see the traditional confrontation between uncontrolled capitalism (the big owners) and individual enterprise (the itinerant breeders). The rapid transition from the wild to civilization forces the characters to distinguish between what is good and what is not so good in this change. Kevin Costner, in the central role, carries the usual killer past and seeks redemption through adaptation, which in his case means sleeping under a roof and getting married. Each of these themes recalls the classics of the genre, Rio Bravo has Ruthless without the film ever managing to rise to this level.

Nothing new under the sun then (nor in the rain, both serving to reflect the mood of Costner's character). The scenario simply takes its time to detail in a realistic and nuanced way both life in the open air and collective behavior. The inhabitants are not all passive cowards: some are committed against the tyranny of Baxter.

Kevin Costner remembers his very first role on his birthday

What makes the film strong is obviously its interpretation, as is often the case when an actor directs. Robert Duvall probably finds there the role he had dreamed of all his life, even if he has already played in westerns. Between the nature of his character who never says a word unnecessarily and the script's propensity to make him talk about individual freedom, there is a contradiction that Duvall conveys with incredible class.

Kevin Costner has reserved for himself a role that he likes, that of the madman who broods over a dark past. His sentimental involvement with the doctor's sister is touching (thank you Annette Bening) although insufficiently rough-hewn so as not to seem artificial.

Behind the camera, Costner narrowly avoids heaviness and grandiloquence, but not slowness. James Muro's photo works a lot with light, and, for a former steadycamer, he surprises with the stability of his framing? The vast (Canadian) spaces are filmed like a lost paradise and accentuate the contrast with urban violence. The film, which could have been shot twenty years ago, is viewed with pleasure, but perplexity: at no point does it manage to make us forget that what it tells has already been said before, and better.

The trailer forOpen Range :