All the Pretty Horses

Pros: Lucas Black, attractive scenery
Cons: Slow and not very engaging

"All The Pretty Horses" is a journey that tries to evoke what it might have been like to travel in the old West. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, Matt Damon stars as John Grady Cole, a young rancher in 1949 Texas forced to leave the land he works...

Pros: Strong performances. Lovely scenery.
Cons: Butchered in the editing room so nothing makes sense.

Mr. Axel Foley, on loan to the Beverly Hills Police Department from someplace in the midwest, came to my hospital room today to question me about Herbert Scrawcrunch's unfortunate demise. He was really quite a charming Black man, just approaching middle...

Pros: Acting and visuals are generally top-notch
Cons: The film lacks a real voice or message, some underdeveloped characters

When you decide to make a movie out of a popular novel, you are bound to run into some criticism -- is it faithful to the original text? Is it better, or worse, than the source material? The most important question, however, in my opinion, is why...

Pros: The source material, beautiful cinematography, pretty horses and Lucas Black's performace.
Cons: All the pretty actors. Continuity suffers under the editors knife.

This is my entry into Lily's inspired 'Book vs the film' Write Off. I always enjoy a write off that promotes intelligent new reviews, and since I love books and movies I thought ...

Pros: Matt Damon's acting.
Cons: A brooding story directed in a quirky, offbeat fashion.

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES is a good story put to film but it feels a little different from what I expected because of Billy Bob Thornton's unique directing style.

The story itself is a gritty coming-of-age tale about a young man's journey into...

Pros: Amazing performances, wonderful scenery, great dialogue
Cons: Choppy, uneven

I don't often catch films in the theater--I'm lazy that way. I wait for the video, then take my time watching--rewinding, rewatching, making sure I catch everything. Much like I read books, really. Not a book comes through my hands that isn't read at...

Pros: Some parts are very heartfelt and real.
Cons: Others are weird and incomplete.

All Those Pretty Cuts
This movie seems like it could be a pretty good movie, but feels incomplete. And from what I have heard and read in magazines, the version we are seeing really is an incomplete one. Supposedly Billy Bob Thornton (the...

Pros: Photography, Lucas Black, Matt Damon, and Henry Thomas
Cons: editing; a story that leaves you with a vast sense of ennui...

In the spirit of bygone days, in the American West, this movie is the next best thing . But it is missing some elements that were conspicuously present in the old westerns, specifically, a hero (good guy) flashy unrealistic gunfights, and more action,...

Pros: Cormac McCarthy's story...Barry Markowitz's spectacular desert cinematography
Cons: Billy Bob Thornton's direction, uneven pace, awkward editing

As muddy and meandering as the Rio Grande, this Western, set in 1949, is the soggy saga of two buddies, John Grady Cole and Lesley Rawlins, played by Matt Damon and Henry Thomas (the "E.T." kid, now grown up), who ride across the border...

Pros: Damon, Black, Thomas, Cruz, Blades
Cons: unsatisfactory ending, poorly-developed relationship between Cruz and Damon

I must admit that I took some pretty high expectations with me in my saddle-bag when I rode over to the cinema to watch All The Pretty Horses. After all, the film is based on Cormac McCarthy’s highly acclaimed novel, it stars Matt Damon and...

Pros: some lovely images; those pretty horses.
Cons: none of said images is that of the overhyped Penelope Cruz; slow and uninvolving.

If there's anything Billy Bob Thornton's All the Pretty Horses can't be accused of, it's having a title that lies. From its first image of lovely equine specimens charging along, the horses are indeed pretty--not just a few, but all of those seen...

Pros: Lush, dreamy visual images
Cons: Slowly paced

Although Matt Damon is ostensibly the star of the romantic Western ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, don't be fooled for a minute -- the real star is the landscape. An elegant sunset on the Mexican horizon, the breathtaking depth of the Rio Grande canyon, a grassy...

Pros: Cinematography, Score (I suppose)
Cons: Horrible Story, Lousy Characters, Pointless Direction, Misuse of Talent

I just sat through "All the Pretty Horses." I watched it, I tried to get into it, but the bottomline is I sat through the production.

"All the Pretty Horses" follows John Grady Cole (who, in typical South/Southwestern fashion - at...

Pros: Fabulous locations, good script, well-acted.
Cons: It's target audience may miss out on it, due to bad marketing.

INTRODUCTION:
I haven't read the novel that this movie was based on. And, from what I understand, this is a good thing -- if I had, I would have been disappointed, since the movie only has brief glimmers of the genius that was the novel. (Which is...

Pros: Director: Horse is Man's Best Friend. Matt Damon: Woman is Man's Best Friend.
Cons: Director wins.

Notice: If you feel you must see this movie, then watch the previews. They are much more entertaining than the movie itself.

The movie on the other hand is like watching a Superbowl game that ends 0-0. It's like seeing two Sumo wrestlers...