Cast: Matt Damon, Henry Thomas, Lucas Black, Ruben Blades, Penélope Cruz, Robert Patrick, Bruce Dern, Sam Shepard
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Producers: Robert Salerno, Billy Bob Thornton
Screenplay: Ted Tally, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy
Cinematography: Barry Markowitz
Music: Daniel Lanois
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
If the task of resurrecting the Western is up to All the Pretty Horses, that most uniquely American of genres will remain buried on Boot Hill. This epic tale of love, betrayal, and horse stealing in the not-so-old West (it's actually set mostly in Mexico around the middle of the 20th century) has plenty to offer in the area of plot, but is disappointingly lean on characterization. Director Billy Bob Thornton (working from a script by Ted Tally which, in turn, is based upon Cormac McCarthy's novel) is so intent upon getting his characters from Point A to Point B (with three or four detours in between) that he loses sight of the need to develop them into more than convenient mannequins to be pushed around by the ebb and flow of the storyline.
Part of the problem with All the Pretty Horses relates to its length and the degree to which material had to be trimmed to reach Miramax's goal of a running time not exceeding two hours. According to Thornton, his original cut was about four hours long, meaning that more than half of the footage had to be excised. This would explain why parts of All the Pretty Horses feel like they were put together by the same team responsible for the truncated version of The Magnificent Ambersons. In fact, considering the magnitude of the editing, it's somewhat amazing that the theatrical release of All the Pretty Horses is coherent.
The movie opens in San Angelo, Texas during the late 1940s. John Grady Cole (Matt Damon), a rancher who has been turned off his property when his mother sells the land to an oil company, is headed south to Mexico. Accompanying him is his good friend, Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas), who shares his passion for horses and the outdoors life. Near the Rio Grande, which marks the border, they are joined by young Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black, from Thornton's Sling Blade), who is riding a horse too good for his obviously impoverished background and evidences uncanny skill with a pistol. Eventually, John and Lacey part ways with Jimmy, but not before he implicates them in a horse stealing raid. The two escape pursuit and find work on the ranch of Don Hector Rocha y Villareal (Ruben Blades), where their knowledge and easy-going manner make them well liked. But John mistakenly falls for Don Hector's daughter, Alejandra (Penélope Cruz), and, when word gets out, both Americans find themselves at the mercy of Mexican justice.
At the emotional core of All the Pretty Horses is the relationship between John and Alejandra. As written, they are tragic lovers driven apart by prejudice and cultural taboos. Their enduring passion is supposed to provide the glue that holds the film together. Unfortunately, that glue is brittle and partially disintegrated. The love affair is handled in the same perfunctory fashion as everything else in the film - related in a bare bones manner that resists emotional involvement. In order for All the Pretty Horses to really work, we must have an investment in this relationship, but it is developed (and, ultimately, disposed of) so quickly and with so little romantic heat that it's difficult to care about these two star-crossed, doomed lovers.
The most intriguing character is neither Joe nor Lacey - both are so bland that fashioning a story around them is a dubious choice. Instead, it's Jimmy, who is plagued by a troubled past and an even less secure future. He's an intriguing individual with a number of personality quirks (he's deathly afraid of being struck by lightning - so afraid that, when caught out in the middle of a thunderstorm, he strips down to his underwear and crouches down in the best shelter he can find), but he isn't accorded much screen time. Certainly, a lot more could have been done about his relationship with John and Lacey, since they become reluctant big brothers to him, but the movie has to rush on to other things.
It's hard to fault the performance of either Matt Damon or Henry Thomas. Their characters aren't very dynamic or interesting, but the actors appear to be playing them the way they're written. Damon isn't a chameleon when it comes to acting, but he's perfectly capable of believably portraying this kind of naïve character, and Thomas is cut from the same mold. Most of the attempts to flesh out these two individuals, as well as their connection to each other, were probably left on the cutting room floor. Actors Sam Shepard and Robert Patrick are given cameos in important roles; one has a sense that their parts were intended to be more substantial. There's also a curious appearance by Bruce Dern as a judge. On the surface, the character is almost superfluous, but there are hints that his wisdom enables John to reconcile himself with what has happened in the past and to determine which path he should take in the future.
All the Pretty Horses is technically proficient. The cinematography, with its glorious landscape shots, offers everything visually that one expects from a Western. The story moves quickly enough that it's unlikely to bore anyone. But a critical element is missing. The characters don't seem real, and their lack of depth makes the entire picture seem more like an exercise than an experience. With All the Pretty Horses, Thornton takes us on a long, looping trail across borders and through various traditional Western plot elements (such as the shootout), but, by the time we reach the end of the journey, we have no more emotional currency invested in the characters than we had at the beginning. And that's not the sign of a motion picture that hits its mark.
© 2000 James Berardinelli