All the Pretty Horses (2000)

The story is as follows: John Grady Cole (Damon) is a young man in late 1940's Texas who dreams of living the life of a prosperous rancher. He is determined to see and experience the old frontier before it disappears for good and makes a plan to travel to Mexico on horse with his good friend Lacy Rawlins (Thomas). On route, they meet tough-talking teen Jimmy Blevins, a young fugitive traversing the desert landscape on a stolen horse. He leaves the entourage only days later, dodging authorities for a second-theft of the same nature. Sans Blevins, John and Lacy cross the border and find work taming wild steeds for a man named Rocha, the most prestigious rancher in the area. Trouble brews when good ol' John falls for Rocha's beautiful daughter Alejandra (Cruz). Despite the tumult that their interracial relationship will cause, they begin seeing each other in secret and fall madly in love. About fifteen minutes after John and Alejandra are officially an item (it occurs so quickly - it's almost implausible), he and Lacy are detained by the local captain for murder and meet up with Blevins again when they are thrown into a filthy cell with him after their arrest. John and Lacy do time in a Mexican penitentiary (don't know how long; hard to tell) and Alejandra is completely out of the picture for the next hour.

It's at about this point in the movie that people who have not read McCarthy's novel will be thinking, "What's the hell's going on here?" They have good reason to ask this question, for nothing makes sense because of Thornton's massive amount of missing footage (probably about an hour and a half's worth, if I carefully judge). What will really boggle people is the relationship between John and Alejandra. The dialogue between them is too insubstantial and vague; their wordless exchanges aren't nearly enough to justify their instantaneous love affair. In a matter of minutes, John and Alejandra go from perfect strangers to voracious paramours, a tangle of limbs beneath the sheets. You don't see any emotional growth to their relationship. Instead, it's...BAM - they're in love! Cruz's Alejandra is reticent one moment and in the next moment knocking on Damon's bedroom door every night for a romantic rendezvous. Even their love scenes are shown in jump cuts, each shot of them kissing and embracing only seconds long. Fade in, fade out - and that's the way it goes. There is no insight to gain for their sudden chemistry and their heartrending romance. Of course, this is due to the faulty editing that is so apparent throughout the whole movie.

Many other defects stand out to the ardent observer. For example, Henry Thomas and Matt Damon look not the least bit rugged in their travails across the border. There is not a millimeter of stubble visible on their baby faces, even after several days in the rough and unforgiving terrain of Texas and Mexico with no hygiene whatsoever, not to mention an arduous stint in a filthy and fearsome penitentiary. They remain clean-shaven through it all. Not very realistic, if you ask me.

It is hard for me to critique most of the performances in this film because of all the missing pieces, but I will say this: Lucas Black RULED the screen. Black was the high of the lows and a welcome spark to the extensive and languorous shots of the Mexican range. Cocksure and completely resolved to keep both his horse and gun to his minute list of possessions, Black's strong-headed Blevins is a spunky refresher when someone becomes bored with John and Lacy's dreamy trek across the border.

Despite its greatest flaw, "All The Pretty Horses" still manages to come off as a striking and meaningful piece of work from a progressive director. I sincerely hope that within the next year, Thornton releases a director's cut version on DVD so that audiences predisposed to shunning this insufferable edition will get a chance to see Thornton's original and complete vision before the production axe came down with a loud and deadly crack.

I have not read Cormac McCarthy's novel on which the film is based, but I have seen enough film adaptations to know that the transition is not always smooth. However, I can't say who should take the blame, McCarthy or director Billy Bob Thornton, for the overlong plot or underdeveloped characters.

Technically a western, the plot is not so much incoherent as it is boring. Matt Damon and Henry Thomas play John Grady and Rawlings, two west Texas cowboys with nothing left at home, so they set off to Mexico, where a variety of complications ensue.

They meet a scrappy 16-year-old named Blevins (Lucas Black) along the way. He suggests that he did something bad to his abusive stepfather, and John Grady and Rawlins know that the beautiful horse he's riding can't be his. But the audience never really finds out much more. Polite people would say it adds to his mystery. In reality, Blevins's character, like nearly every other character, is a victim of over-editing.

After his horse runs off in a thunderstorm, John Grady and Rawlins help Blevins steal it back, something that comes back to haunt them. They eventually end up working on a Mexican ranch. John Grady meets the ranchers beautiful daughter Alejandra (played flatly by a boring Penelope Cruz) and decides he's fallen in love with her. Basically, the relationship consists of John Grady ogling Alejandra like a piece of meat while Alejandra looks coyly at him. You don't believe him at all when he tells her, "I'll love you till the day I die," and Cruz turns what didn't have to be a thankless role into that of "the love interest".

Thankfully, John Grady and Rawlins are hauled off to a Mexican prison for aiding Blevins in stealing his horse before we're subjected to any more of the alleged lovers mooning over each other. Grady and Rawlins meet up with Blevins again, who this time is accused of murdering three people. I suppose I shouldn't give away the end, so you'll just have to find out what happens for yourself, if you manage to stay awake that long.

This film seems to be a victim of too much editing and too little characterization. The actors show a great deal of potential, but they are never given the chance to develop their characters into something interesting and worthwhile, so you ultimately do not care about them. Furthermore, the plot is so full of holes that it obliterates any chance for consistency.

Director Billy Bob Thornton has shown his ability to make offbeat, original films in the past, but he doesn't really show anything special in this film. Perhaps a director's cut will reveal something new.

To its credit, the cinematography is absolutely beautiful and the spare yet poignant soundtrack fits the setting extremely well. It is unfortunate that the other elements (acting, directing, writing) could not be incorporated into what could have been a decent film.