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Best movie of this year hands down!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Released in 2000, "All the Pretty Horses" stars Matt Damon and Henry Thomas as two West Texas cowboys, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, who are weary of all the fenced-in land in 1949 and so head to Mexico for freer pastures. There they meet up with a foolish, but likable juvenile (Lucas Black) before settling down on a huge ranch where Cole falls in love with the owner's daughter, Alejandra (Penelope Cruze). Unfortunately, unexpected problems with the law surface. Miriam Colon plays the girl's staunch aunt and ranch matriarch while Sam Shepard and Bruce Dern have (very) small roles.Billy Bob Thornton directed the movie based on Cormac McCarthy's novel and the original runtime was said to be around 3 hours and 12 minutes, but was cut at the insistence of distributer Harvey Weinstein to a mere 117 minutes (!). Similar circumstances forced Marlon Brando to cut his sole directed movie, 1961's "One-Eyed Jacks," from 5 hours to half that time and it turned out to be a Western masterpiece, but "All the Pretty Horses" was cut TOO much. Even an additional 20 minutes would've helped immeasurably. As it is, there are gaping holes in the story. For instance, there is little build-up to Cole's love affair with Alejandra. "The Horse Whisperer" (1998), by contrast, is an excellent example of proper romantic build-up. Other questions abound: What did Alejandra experience in her life that made her brazenly risk her honor? What (specifically) was the source of her deep contempt for her aunt, who seemed to be just looking out for her? Why does Alejandra's father stay on close terms with Cole even AFTER it's discovered he lied to him? What led up to Rawlins' suicidal confrontation with a prison heavy and the same with Cole's deadly tassel? Also, it's subtly revealed that Cole, Rawlins and Blevins (the kid) have very different views of the world, but they're never fleshed out.A director's cut has supposedly been looked into (or worked on), but the composer steadfastly refused to license his score (which, unusually, he owns) to any release of the film. I hope they can work it out because the score and soundtrack are outstanding.As far as locations go, it's great to have a Western actually shot in West Texas rather than supposedly taking place in Texas, but being shot in Arizona, etc. It was equally shot in New Mexico.Although "All the Pretty Horses" has a severely troubled post-production history, it's still very much worth catching DESPITE the holes in the story. It has magnificent cinematography and locations, formidable actors (Damon is perfect as the humble, respectable protagonist), a magnificent score/soundtrack, an epic tone and an unpredictable story. In short, it's a unique Western not everyone's going to like because uniqueness polarizes opinion. It's not great simply because it was butchered in post-production, but it's still a quality film and, in many ways, a pleasure to behold. Some criticize it as soporific and that's true in the sense that it's not a rollicking Western, like 2001's "American Outlaws," which plays like "Indiana Jones goes West." "All the Pretty Horses" is a realistic Western drama with the tone of the aforementioned "Horse Whisperer," but with periodic actions sequences. It's a refreshing change from the typical in-your-face, loud, CGI-laden, foul-mouthed, unreal movies we have constantly rammed at us; and, again, the music's great. GRADE: B

It's not "True Grit" but it has its own purpose that deserves far better ratings than some give it. Some people tend to take their "mood of the day" and enlist it in their otherwise bland perception. This movie deserves more. It's not high excitement, and action adventure, but its noteworthy.A simple story of three young riders that pursue a goal to travel to Mexico to take stock of a situation concerning legitimate horse trading and breeding, and how the ethnic differences and history divide and interrupt otherwise normal life sometimes to inevitable consequences.Tragedy, sickened personalities and lack of justice involve the audience into what one can't help but be pure genuine interest in the plot and storyline.Dull to some, but life wayn't chuck full of lightnin' fast draws and gun playin' nor overwrought with nothing other than second by second action scenes but more of an intrigue in personalty, honorable characterizations and simplicity of human nature and sometimes it's flaws fighting itself for virtuosity performed and carved out of the countryside between Mexico and the U.S.The eventual climax of the movie should leave the viewer with a satisfaction for watching a movie that didn't waste your time.

All the Pretty Horses is directed by Billy Bob Thornton and adapted from Cormac McCarthy's novel of the name name by Ted Tally. It stars Matt Damon, Penélope Cruz, Henry Thomas & Lucas Black. Marty Stuart scores the music and Barry Markowitz photographs it. Plot finds Damon as John Grady Cole, a young cowboy who travels with his best friend, Lacey Rawlings, from Texas across the border into Mexico. It's a journey that sees acquaintances come and go, love blossom and the harshness of the world become all too real to such young eyes.A big financial disaster for Columbia Pictures and Miramax Films who lost nearly $40 million on the film. Serves them right I say, for Thornton's original cut was a long epic piece thought to be around three and a half hours in length. But good old Harvey Weinstein demanded drastic cuts to be made and Thornton had to trim it to just nearly two hours in running time. That's a lot of story gone astray, and boy does it show, no wonder Damon himself bitterly commented that to lose 35% of your movie ultimately leaves you with a completely different film. It's such a shame because although it's now a film chocked with flaws and flow problems, one can see that in its original cut there had to be at worst an involving rites-of-passage story.So what are we left with? Well it's certainly not a donkey. It drips with period atmosphere and comes resplendent with a poetic beauty thanks to Markowitz's photography. Stuart's score too has the tone absolutely right, blending the old feel of the West with evocative arrangements for the more tender moments involving the protagonists: and there are tender moments, notably between Cole (Damon youthful but not really exuding a naivety for the age of the character) & Rawlings (Thomas effective and dominating his scenes). That the crucial relationship between Cole and Alejandra Villarreal (Cruz weak and lacking believability for the romantic strand) is barely formed can be laid at Weinstein's door. So too can the fact that a number of characters file in and out with blink and you miss them parts, sad when it's the likes of Robert Patrick and Sam Sheperd; and tragic in the case of Bruce Dern's judge; the latter of which is a crucial character in the final quarter but gets about three minutes screen time. Madness. Star of the movie is Black, who as young ruffian Blevins, manages to convey a deep sense of vulnerability. It's a critical role, one that affects the main character's lives, and thanks to Black's spirited performance we anxiously await what fate has in store for the lovable rogue.So much good to sample, then, even if it feels like going out for a three course dinner and finding the main course is no longer available. It's hoped that one day we may get a directors cut from Thornton, only then you feel will All the Pretty Horses be revealed as a potential thoroughbred. 6/10

Just as Matt Damon was able to cast aside his New England accent for a Tennessee one in The Rainmaker and use it to great affect in Good Will Hunting, he cast aside again for the Texas tones needed for All The Pretty Horses. The man's got a good ear for speech idiom, he could be a worthy successor to Robert Mitchum in that department.From a novel by Cormac McCarthy and directed by Billy Bob Thornton who also has a good ear and feel for idiom and mores of the Southwest, All The Pretty Horses is about a couple of friends who go across the border into Mexico for work. Damon's been cheated out of a ranch he was expecting to inherit and he and friend Henry Thomas go south. They find both work and trouble and Damon finds romance. How they all intertwine is the story of All The Pretty Horses.Damon's romance is with Penelope Cruz, the daughter of Ruben Blades the owner of the ranch they find work on, breaking mustangs. The two come up against both Latino culture and Texas culture and how they really clash. Trouble starts for Damon and Thomas though when they pick up young runaway kid Lucius Black who's got some real issues with authority and a bad upbringing. His actions start the trouble for everyone involved.But Black in fact steals the film from the more well known stars. I'm surprised he wasn't considered Oscar material for Best Supporting Actor. His performances succeeds on so many levels as likable, goofy, but definitely trouble riding a horse.All The Pretty Horses is a good film where director Billy Bob Thornton does a great job with his cast and with capturing the mood and ambiance of that Rio Grande border country on both sides.