Review of All the Pretty Horses (2000) by Mike C — 10 Nov 2010

Saw this when it came out but I've watched a lot of movies since then, so upon reading the book, wanted to give it a rewatch. Billy Bob Thornton is capable of movie perfection: he wrote, directed, and starred in Sling Blade. Despite the great Cormac McCarthy title, Thornton comes up with only mediocrity.

Damon, Cruz, horses, Spanish...what is there not to like about this movie? Well, I thought the close-ups. The book has some pretty decent speeches. The way Thornton handles them, I think, is a big mistake. The speeches are important enough to include, but it's as if he tried to make too much of them and they got lost in the fake drama.

Damon never fails to be good. Cruz is good but gets a lot better in her career (love her in Elegy). Lucas Black was the boy in Sling Blade and has been with Thornton in Friday Night Lights, and is Blevins in this. A seemingly good cast, but even that moving story line is blown a little bit.

It's not a bad movie. Had I not read the book I would have enjoyed it, and were I not such a dick about manufactured drama, maybe the monologues wouldn't have taken me out of the movie as much. But they did. McCarthy came up with a pretty decent story, so the fault of mediocrity lies mostly with Thornton. Oh well, Damon has Good Will, and Thornton has Sling Blade. One average movie won't hurt.