All the Pretty Horses (2000)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Billy Bob Thornton

Writers (WGA):

Cormac McCarthy (novel)
Ted Tally (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Some passions can never be tamed.

Plot:

Two Texas cowboys head to Mexico in search of work, but soon find themselves in trouble with the law after one of them falls in love with a wealthy rancher's daughter

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Cowboy | Coming Of Age | Animal In Title | Poor Man Rich Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 12 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Nov. 17

12:30 PM

MAX

Cast

Matt Damon	...	John Grady Cole
Henry Thomas	...	Lacey Rawlins
Penélope Cruz	...	Alejandra
J.D. Young	...	Grandfather
Laura Poe	...	Mother
Sam Shepard	...	J.C. Franklin
Robert Patrick	...	Cole
Lucas Black	...	Jimmy Blevins
Yvette Diaz	...	Girl
Imelda Colindres	...	Girl's Mom
Augustin Solis	...	Manuel (as Agustin Solis)
Rubén Blades	...	Hector de la Rocha
Elizabeth Ibarra	...	Maria
Miriam Colon	...	Doña Alfonsa (as Miriam Colón)
Lonnie Rodriguez	...	Esteban

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-15 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #36454) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The Columbia Pictures logo at the start of the film is not the modern one, but the one in use in 1949, which is when the film is set.

Goofs:

Continuity: When getting drinks at the first cantina they come to in Mexico, Blevins takes a sip of his drink from a glass. A few seconds later the girl is filling a glass and hands it to Blevins. He says appreciate it and starts drink his drink from the glass.

Quotes:

Lacey: Where'd you git this gun?
Jimmy: At the gittin' place.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Crafted like a fine-tooled saddle

This is a hard film to pin down...given the spoon-fed plots we've all been conditioned to follow. It's sold as a love story, but that's one small bend in the film's long, dusty road. If I had to classify it in conventional terms, I'd put it somewhere between "coming of age" and an "american odyssey." It's spread out and slowly told--that's the nature of the subject. But to hell with all that.

I love this film. It's haunting. It's like putting on your favorite old pair of dusty old boots with their third soles and fifth heels, and kicking your feet up onto a hitching rail while you're waiting for the day to cool off. This is the story of John Grady Cole's serious loss of innocence. He is a stoic, simple, gentle, moral, responsible, sensible, well-mannered young Texan dropped into some extreme circumstances where his character is tested and proven. The crafting of the film appears to be a direct extension of his character. From Barry Markowitz' big-sky, muted-color, wide-open, slowly-moving cinematography, Clark Hunter's simple yet brilliant production design, to Sally Menke's minimalist editing, all elements of this film combine to reflect the purity, simplicity and grace of it's protagonist. The create a purely american western MOOD, and I love the way this film feels when I watch it.

I love Matt Damon's Texas drawl. Hell, I love EVERYONE'S Texas drawl in this film. I love the unspoken, little-expressed love between his character and Henry Thomas' character, Lacy Rawlins. I love Lucas Black's rough-edged teenager in big trouble, and how he desperately reverts to his recently-lost childhood when he's being dragged off to certain death. I love how Billy Bob Thornton takes his time telling this tale...that's the way his main characters approach everything...patiently. I love seeing two friends riding together toward who-knows-what in the middle of a vast wilderness. I love how even when John Grady Cole is enraged, he's still polite and rational. I just love the RICHNESS of this film--you can TASTE the cider when these guys pull over to buy a drink. You can TASTE the beans they eat in prison. You can SMELL the dust and the sage everywhere. You can FEEL how sore they are after 4 days of breaking horses. I even love the way "John Grady Cole" sounds when they say it.

I'm trying to put my finger on it, but I can't...this film's like a glass of wonderful wine you weren't expecting.

But I saved the best for last: the most magnificent thing about "All the Pretty Horses," the force that binds all the rich, disparate pleasures of watching this film together, and expresses the subdued, pure emotions of it's protagonist, is Marty Stuart's exquisite score. It's warm like old wood and worn leather...it's part mariachi, part spanish, part classic western film score, part bluegrass, but it is PERFECT FOR THIS FILM. It's constructed entirely around a simple, graceful phrase on a spanish guitar (obviously a representation of the contents of John Grady Cole's pure Texas heart) I'm not even going to try to express any more about how great I think it is...I'll just get more frustrated than I already am. Needless to say, I listen to it again and again and again.

I just happen to love this movie. I'm more surprised than anyone else. I guess you could say, "I'm plum stuck on it--and I don't give too hoots in a holler what the rest of y'all might think about it neither."