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Review by Rick Romancito
With only a limited number of plots to
work with, even best selling novelists have been able to conjure
up stories of compelling power and masterful expression. But the
novelist's strong suit has always been the ability to wield phenomenal
descriptive expertise.
The poetic nuances of dialogue or unique qualities of structure
most often lend themselves to a medium which appeals directly
to the reader's intellectual perception. Turning a page can become
for readers a thousand mile journey or a brilliant revelation.
Billy Bob Thornton's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's beloved classic, "All the Pretty Horses," is a good example of how a soaring novel can be reduced to the basics of plot, dialogue, pictures and little else.
Certainly, one medium should not be compared to another because each proceeds in its own characteristic fashion. A movie is not a book and vice versa. But you've got to wonder, after seeing this mishmash of a movie, what was Billy Bob thinking? On the film's Internet Web site (www.miramax2000.com/horses/index.html) you can access an excerpt from McCarthy's book - which may not have been such a good idea because it invites comparison between the lovely prose and the dissatisfying film. And yet, even the most casual viewer can easily detect what is wrong with Thornton's work.
First of all, and most importantly, the screenplay done by Ted Tally virtually ignores two elements that are crucial to telling the story: The landscape and the horses.
The film's focus on John Grady Cole (Matt
Damon) as a South Texas teenager at the end of World War II who
decides to seek adventure in Mexico after the death of his grandfather,
sale of his beloved ranch and dissolution of his family, fails
to acknowledge the "cowboyness" of its lead.
This is a young man who has grown up amid hard-bitten Western
values who regards the treatment of his horse with as much importance
as a good and caring friend. When Cole and his buddy Lacey Rawlins
(Henry Thomas) meet up with the misfit Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black)
on their way to Mexico, it is the magnificent horse Blevins is
riding that catches their attention. But do we see why the horse
is so remarkable? Do we recognize a symbolic element that will
foreshadow certain events to come in the character of this fine
animal? No, Thornton is so enamored of creating a western epic
with larger-than-life characters that he overlooks the very details
that might accomplish such a feat.
Thornton also seems to envision the character of the landscape with equal disregard. Little attention is given to establishing a clearly definable feel for postwar Mexico. Instead, we're given a landscape peopled by individuals who clearly look like extras amid obviously Hollywood-style sets dressed to look south-of-the-border authentic. Nothing looks lived-in, used or even practical. It would have been wonderful to be shown, for instance, a place that someone like John Grady Cole could inhabit as a man accustomed to dealing with Spanish-speaking people like he's done it all his life. He would know how to act among them, what manners to use when among wranglers or their boss, and certainly around his patron's daughter, the beautiful Alejandra (Penelope Cruz).
Of the ill-fated romance that blossoms between Cole and Alejandra, nothing could be wrought with less chemistry between two actors who clearly have nothing in common. Damon, who has excelled at playing Eastern city boys and can barely rouse a decent Texas accent, is good at affecting a kind of dumbstruck gaze when looking at the attractive Cruz. But, that's about all. And, for all the hype touting this actress as a hot new talent, Cruz appears wooden and indifferent, despite the efforts of the screenwriter to provide dialog that expresses passion and longing.
At one point, while in Mexico, Blevins, who is scared to death of being struck by lightning, loses his horse, his gun and all his belonging in a deluge. But the kid is so headstrong that when he spies his horse in possession of a rancher, he decides to retrieve it. Their escape separates Cole and Rawlins from Blevins but leads to further trouble down the road. Cole and Rawlins come upon a huge ranch where they sign on horsemen and where the patron's daughter catches Cole's eye.
Eventually, the horse theft comes to the attention of the ranch owner (Ruben Blades) and the federales. Cole and Rawlins wind up in a jail where Blevins has been held, and then later a Mexican prison (watch for Taos Pueblo actor Matthew Montoya as a prisoner). From that point, it becomes a matter of courage and determination for Cole to try and regain what he's lost. But the point of McCarthy's book - that Cole's hard-fought return to the United States is tempered by the fact that he has no home and no family - is given the old Hollywood treatment of a pat ending. What could have been great is reduced to mediocre.
"All the Pretty Horses" was a pretty big disappointment.
This film is rated PG-13 for violence and some sexuality.
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