In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES [2000]

Billy Bob Thornton directs All The Pretty Horses, a film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's dark romance-western novel.
It tells the tale of a Texas cowboy, working in Mexico, that falls in love with a rancher's daughter which leads him into all sorts of trouble.
Billy Bob demonstrates some good ol' fashioned Western film-making with this lushly photographed piece where quite often the imagery tells the story more than the dialogue.  Sadly, his vision was gutted when the studio demanded a good 40% of the film be cut due to length.  A lot is lost, particularly the emotional punch the novel carried, but somehow it manages to tread water with some strong performances and interesting situations.

3 cowboys out of 5

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