Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Open Range (2003) - Costner impresses with fabulous classic western

9/21/2022

Open Range (2003) - Costner impresses with fabulous classic western

♥♥♥♥

+ Comeback of the Year: Kevin Costner + Best Western of the Year

A shoot-out is about to commence on this thrilling poster for Kevin Costner's Open Range

Four sympathetic open range Montana cattlemen become 2½, when they head in to buy supplies in a small, inhospitable town. The two men that are left unharmed now must claim their right to freedom against the town's corrupt reign.

Open Range is written by Craig Storper (The Truth About Alex (1986, TV movie)), adapting The Open Range Men (1990) by Lauran Paine (Skye (1986)), and directed by Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves (1990)), who also co-produced and co-stars in the film.

The first half is the best; after this comes a long prelude to the grand, final showdown, - which is very classical and really well-made, SPOILER followed by an overlong and overly sentimental round-off.

But Open Range is still a really good western. Annette Bening (The Siege (1998)) is good, and Costner and Robert Duvall (The Godfather (1972)) are not to be messed with here, class acts all three. The American open range is the film's fourth lead. Open Range is impressive and full of warmth.

Related posts:

Kevin Costner: Molly's Game (2017) - Chastain is luminous in Sorkin's great true-crime debut (co-star)

Man of Steel (2013) or, Superman v Zod: Sunset of Destruction (co-star)

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller (actor/producer)

Dances with Wolves (1990) - Costner's triumphant, simpatico western

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 22 mil. $

Box office: 68.2 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.1 times its cost)

[Open Range premiered 11 August (USA) and runs 139 minutes. Shooting took place from June - September 2002 in Alberta, Canada. More than a million $ were spent to build the town in the film, as well as 40k $ to lay a road to it. 225 head of cattle were used in the film, handled by professional cowboys. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Freddy vs. Jason and holdover hit S.W.A.T., to a 14 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#4), grossing 58.3 mil. $ (85.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 2.7 mil. $ (4 %) and the UK with 1.9 mil. $ (2.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Costner didn't direct again for nearly 20 years but is now shooting his next film, Civil War western Horizon. As an actor he returned in The Upside of Anger (2005); Duvall in Secondhand Lions (2003); and Bening in The Sopranos (2004, TV-series) and theatrically in Being Julia (2004). Open Range is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Open Range?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

9/21/2022

Open Range (2003) - Costner impresses with fabulous classic western

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

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