All the Pretty Horses

This could have been a heros odyssey, and it almost is, but the hero doesnt quite finish his journey. Its just the story of a couple of cowboys wandering into Mexico and acting like cowboys, livin one day at a time. Taken at face value, its an entertaining episode. Its set in Texas and Mexico in 1949 and one really nice thing about this is the visual experience of the Southwest country with its panorama of endless sky and desert.

The story line starts out nice and easy, just like theres no care in the world. Then, what happens to these two characters is a combination of decisions, events and serendipity. Theres a wealthy rancher, his beautiful daughter, her aunt, the Mexican Policia, some good guys and some bad guys. Enough of this gets stirred into the plot to cause some trouble. Some of the trouble is nasty. Its not a childrens movie.

In addition to the fact that the film is too long, the story is incomplete and there is no discernible change in the protagonist, I thought that the wrong things were romanticized. The two main characters are well fed in good spirits with clean clothes and always clean-shaven during a long horseback trip across Texas and Mexico. I dont think so! Also, the love relationship that cuts across class, culture and race boundaries doesnt ring true. In contrast the violence seems a little too violent for the circumstances.

There is a sub-plot involving a third character, Blevins. I found him to be the most disturbing and the most interesting character in the film.

Matt Damon plays John Grady Cole, the primary protagonist cowboy. In addition to being a pretty-boy, hes a good actor. He dropped out of Harvard, 12 units short of graduation to be an actor. Most recently he starred in The Bourne Identity (2002), which paid him $10M. This role earned him a paltry $5.5M.

Henry Thomas plays Lacey Rawlins, Coles buddy. He is a native born Texan and I saw him recently in Gangs of New York (2002).

Lucas Black plays Jimmy Blevins. He graduated from high school in 2001 where he played football and basketball. He is selective about his roles. The last film I saw him in was Sling Blade (1996).

Reviewed October 17, 2003