ALL THE PRETTY HORSES

2000

When two young cowboys (Matt Damon and Henry Thomas) leave their homes in west Texas to work on one of the last great cattle ranches in Mexico, they find friends, love, and lots of trouble. Wonderfully directed by Billy Bob Thornton, this gritty, sprawling western takes us to a place where man has a closer bond with nature and a time of change, as cattle ranches are being sold for oil drilling and horses are being replaced by the automobile. Damon is terrific, but the scenery is amazing. The filming of the western landscape will leave you breathless. The story takes its time to develop and there is a lot of attention to detail from the vocabulary to the techniques used to break a wild horse. Its all good though. If you've got the patience, this one is a winner. Expect lots of Oscar nominations.

5 Stars

CDF

If you enjoy a very sappy soap opera set in some beautiful scenery (which you've seen before in a thousand other westerns,) then this is the film for you. Penelope Cruz and Matt Damon try their best to breathe some life into two of the stupidest, self-centered lovers seen on screen this year, but there's no chemistry between them at all. The director thinks that, filming a love scene in close-up with snot dripping out of the heroines nose, is the equivalent of heated passion...it's not! With the exception of some interesting acting on the part of young actor Lucas Black, everything about this overlong and overripe film, smells of old corn. Rent an old John Ford western instead, if you really need to see Texas scenery so badly.

2 Stars

NJB