Open Range

⭐7.5/10

The marathon of movies I can't watch with Jess continues! I was struck by the similarities between this one and History of Violence, both these kinda odd hyper-masculine movies from the early 2000s with similar themes. Both classic "I'm worried your baby thinks people can't change"-type movies where our heros have dark pasts that they are trying to run from, only to learn that you can't escape old habits...

I found much of this movie to be not great. I find the premise to mostly be silly, and again some strange male fantasy where I could kill everybody in the room, but my desire to change is holding me back. But if you provoke me I'll have no choice! Not great. But in this instance, I found the writing to be much more passable and most importantly I found the romance at the heart of it to be a bit more compelling. Annette Benning plays the love interest, and while I don't think her role is exactly advancing the feminist cause, I do think her measured and steady performance brings some legitimacy to an otherwise silly circumstance. She and Cosner seem to have some chemistry and I was pretty moved by their connection, even if this relationship makes zero sense in reality. Two past-their-prime lovers finding each other in a wasteland will always be cute to me. If this was History of Violence she would be ten years younger and super horny. 

This is also a very pretty movie, filmed near Calgary, and the nice music brings it all together. It's not a groundbreaking Western, but it is a nice one, and one worth watching for fans of the genre. Also you get to see a baby Cassian Andor? Sold!