Kevin Costner's "Horizon, An American Saga"

 Costner’s Love Child Struggles to be Loved

Westerns, both big- and small-screen offerings, have always served up a special mess plate in the chuck wagon of my heart. I'll watch just about anything in that genre, having grown up in the golden age of the TV Western, from the late 50s through the 60s; a love I shared with my father, who had done his share of cowboying and could point out poor horsemanship and questionable gun handling. Our family bonded over Westerns.

As such, a coupla weeks ago I took myself (my wife does not care for mess plates or chuck wagons) to see chapter one of Kevin Costner's epic offering, Horizon, An American Saga. He has two chapters in the can and is filming two more. At roughly three hours each, this collection of four or five plot lines – that I assume will converge for a conclusion – will ultimately clock in at 12 hours of storytelling.

Is chapter one big? Sweeping? Beautifully photographed? Gritty? Authentic? 

Pretty much a "yes" to all of the above. Filming in Utah, Costner and his people found some spectacular scenery... all of it big and sweeping and beautiful. The costuming is probably authentic and most characters were suitably dusty and "gritty."

There are a couple of notable exceptions to that last statement: Abbey Lee's soiled dove Marigold is pretty much drop-dead gorgeous, 21st century style. In fact, all the women in the installment looked pretty darned good and nicely coifed, considering some were under attack from natives and others were months on the trail in a wagon train. I like Costner's hat, but I did notice he came off the trail, after weeks on horseback and before he can pay for a bath, without even a five o'clock shadow to go with his finely trimmed 'stache and soul patch.

Judging from photos of that time, most women on the trail or of the brothels reflected their hard lives in their demeanor, dress and overall looks. Check out the HBO show Deadwood for a depiction of what I would say was more in line with the 19th century woman on the frontier.

But enough of the nitpicking. Let's get to the major problem with Costner's gamble... It's too long. Hell, at three hours, the first chapter, which just barely succeeds in introducing us to the stable of characters and their (eventual?) intersecting stories, is too long. Costner and co-writers are gambling that this intro has enough interest to hook people into wanting to see the next three movies. This first one just kind of ended abruptly, no cliff hanger on any of the story lines and just quick cuts of what we have to assume are scenes of the coming chapter(s). Did anything pique my interest in seeing what comes next? Not really.

That said, yes, I probably will see the next installment. Like I said in the first paragraph: I'll watch just about any Western... that's not a testament to its quality. 

This just in: New Line Cinema is delaying the release of the second chapter, originally scheduled for next month. Seems the box office receipts for July's chapter are not what everyone hoped for.

And a last observation... I think John Ford could have told the same story Costner is trying to tell in two hours. Total.

Peace to all, and how about watching Bull Durham this weekend?