![‘Horizon — Chapter 1’ Is Kevin Costner’s ‘How The West Was [Yawn]’](https://i.headtopics.com/images/2024/6/28/rollingstone/horizon-chapter-1-is-kevin-costner-s-how-the-west--horizon-chapter-1-is-kevin-costner-s-how-the-west--63DAA8489452DA97B119AD13D08C1ABE.webp)
America's cowboy dad returns to the genre that won him an Oscar — and the result is less 'Dances With Wolves' than Palms on Faces.
is contemporary America’s No. 1 cowboy patriarch, the sort of actor who gives off a strong frontier-zaddy vibe while looking remarkably at home on a horse. He wasn’t the sole reason whybecame a massive hit, just the biggest; whether you love or loathe Taylor Sheridan’s ranch-style soap opera, it’s hard to argue with the sheer star power and earned sense of take-no-shit gravitas Costner brought to the role of John Dutton.
Wait a second, you may find yourself asking roughly one hour in, a.k.a. 1/12th of this lumbering saga’s full running time : Isn’t Kevin Costner starring in this epic as well as calling the shots? Yes, he certainly is. Our tall drink of A-list water literally rides into the picture as one Hayes Ellison, a saddletramp who, it’s strongly hinted, used to make a living with his gun. Now he trades horses and does other odd, far more legal jobs.
But hold on! We haven’t even mentioned the wagon train yet! Over yonder, on the Santa Fe Trail, Matthew is leading a group of pioneers in covered wagons. He’s got to contend with harsh climates, the threat of random Apache attacks, and Hugh and Juliette , a British couple who tend to act like their fellow settlers are servants. As if the grit-vs.-snoot tensions weren’t enough, Matthew also has to keep an eye on two Laplander travelers who have taken an intense interest in this English rose.
Sometimes, the effect is thematically detrimental, as with the Native American narrative; viewers get just enough scenes among the Apache incollective history, but not enough to balance out a lot of set pieces in which they’re treated as the same faceless, nameless murderers you’d see in 1930s Westerns. Their saga may get fleshed out in later entries, but the cake-and-eat-it-too aspect is off-putting. Other times, simple A-to-B storytelling suffers from the too-much-yet-not-enough blues.
You can feel Costner’s reach exceeding his grasp as he tries to bring back your grandfather’s Westerns in one big, ungainly TCM-binge of a highlights reel — a goal we wholeheartedly support and we wish to Ford he’d nailed. It makes you want to forgive” montage of coming attractions, including peeks at new characters, new actors , new shootouts, etc. You’re supposed to feel excited about what’s around the corner. Instead, you feel strung along and exhausted.
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