"All the Pretty Horses" has the gentleness and manners of a Horton Foote story and the violent tinge of a Sam Peckinpaugh film that gives it a realistic portrayal of a heroic Western figure. Set in 1949, this movie version of Cormac McCarthy's novel treats us to a time when a person's word and honor meant everything. The nostalgia is also there with the untamed, barren landscapes, the sleepy Mexican villages, the folksy Texans, and a Rio Grande River without barriers nor armed guards. The main story aside, it is the characters that make this film rewarding. A couple of 'good old boys' (John 'Bud' Cole and Lacey Rawlins) decide to pull up their Texas roots for an adventure in Mexico. You could not have found two better actors, Matt Damon and Henry Thomas, to project both the innocence and the boldness of what they are about to do. As they stargaze at the night skies, they decide that if there is a heaven, there must also be a hell - a telling prophecy about what they will experience. The strange boy that follows them, Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black III) is the most arresting of all the characters - a figure with a childish mindset (his fear of lightning surpasses any common sense) a childish temperament (he will not give up his horse and his revolver), and yet the cunning and tenacity of any adult. Penelope Cruz is the fitting damsel in distress, Mexican-style, who maintains the wild spirit of untamed horses with the guarded dignity of a woman in her class and culture. With excellent direction from Billy Bob Thornton, "All the Pretty Horses" is a film to savor for that Southwestern blend of gentlemanly behavior, cowboy work ethic, and courage to set things right.
Review of All the Pretty Horses
