Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Page 156

All the pretty horses
Movie
All the pretty horses
Director
Billy Bob Thornton
Producer
Mike Nichols
Cinematographer
na
Music
na



Billy Bob Thornton takes every inch of the Panavision screen to contain the rich Western landscapes of All the Pretty Horses.

The story centers on John Grady Cole, played by Matt Damon. Cole is a young rancher in San Angelo, Texas, in 1949 who is left at loose ends when his grandfather dies. Grandpa leaves the family ranch to Cole`s estranged mother -- who sells the property to the oil company and leaves Cole without a place to call home. Cole decides to find his best pal Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas) and head to Mexico in search of adventure. Unfortunately for them, they find more adventure than they can handle. First they meet up with a hotheaded teen, Jimmy Blevins (played by Lucas Black, the kid from Thornton`s Sling Blade), aiming to recover his missing horse. Further along, they are hired on to a ranch owned by a rich landowner (Ruben Blades) -- and Cole falls hard for the boss` daughter, Alejandra (Penelope Cruz), despite the dire warnings of her aunt (Miriam Colon). But fate, and a nasty police captain (Julio Oscar Mechoso), have bad times in store for Cole and Rawlins.

This movie made me feel sorry for Director-Billy Bob Thornton. He obviously wanted more playtime for this movie. All the Pretty Horses suffers from an acute case of speed. Events just seem to move too fast, the romance between Damon and Cruz is rushed and you feel that you went through a time portal in the middle of the movie. To give you guys an exact idea of how fast things are in this movie, picture Vertical limit with cowboys and a hot couple like Cruz and Damon. Considering the options that are available this weekend, I suggest that you skip this movie.

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