Review of Dances with Wolves (1990) by Ryan T — 13 Apr 2013

"If I had the chance, I'd ask the world to dance, but I'll be dancing with wolves, oh-oh-oh-oh!" Kevin Costner storms the frontier for his directorial debut, and boy, is it awesome, as well it should be if it's going to be a solid three hours, or, in the case of the extended cut, almost four hours of Costner hanging out with a bunch of Native Americans, then it better be good. Boy, Costner sure does love a long film, and by long, I mean [u]over[/u]long, so it would only be fitting to make this, probably his best film, his longest film, which is why they really did go all-out on the director's cut... that he reportedly didn't even have anything to do with as director. Yeah, apparently even Costner had to draw the line somewhere and not get caught up in length, but hey, to things still paid off for Costner, and then he did "The Postman", and now the critics who aren't the kind of jerks who would actually like "The Postman"... like me, just won't give Kev a break. Granted, people started to really underrate Costner's stuff when he did "Wyatt Earp", which came before "The Postman", but that film was just misfortunate enough to have most of what audience it had be the kind of people who wouldn't like it for whatever reason. I don't know, maybe there are jerks out there who are still mad about this film winning Best Picture over "Goodfellas". Yeah, I like "Goodfellas" and all, but forget it, because I personally think that this film is awesome, though not quite as awesome as it probably could have been, for although things pick up after a while, no point in this film, no matter how excellent, is without some issues.

A very lengthy, rather meditative drama, this film has the potential to slow down something fierce and does, in fact, limp out at times, being generally very entertaining, or at least dramatically resonant to make up for dry spots in atmosphere, but not without moments of quietness that bland up momentum, maybe even dulls things down, at least for a moment. The film is so lengthy and so generally compelling that it's hard to tell if there are any moments where slowness really dives down in momentum, but it's hard to ignore the fact that this film, no matter how enjoyable, is with bland spots, which are in no way helped by an even bigger issue in this film, its length. I only know this film's extended cut, which dances (so to speak) near the edge of a whopping four-hour runtime, but I'm not entirely sure that this film's subject matter can be drawn out to only three hours all that easily, because as sweeping as this story is, its execution gets to be a bit excessive in its going packed with layers upon layers of material. Before too long, such a storytelling formula gets to be rather repetitious, and while there is enough tightness to this film's depth for you to be gripped, regardless of the gratutious immensity of the final product's length, your full investment is bound to find itself a bit shaken after a while by excessve areas, which reflect this film's overambition as a sprawling epic, as surely as hiccups in subtlety often reflect this film's overambition as a teller of a worthy tale, if they're backed by perfectly reasonable notes in storytelling that is. The film opens with Kevin Costner's John J. Dunbar character, a Confederate soldier, inspiring his fellow soldiers when they fail to realize that the only reason why he is storming enemy lines with open arms is because he is making an attempt at suicide over the fear that they're going to take his injured foot (Hey, buddy, you can live without a foot, but there's no living without a life), thus making for a somewhat questionable dramatic note that doesn't exactly end up standing alone, because the thing about an opening is that it is only the beginning of things, and sure enough, throughout the film you can expect to find some offputting dramatic notes here and there that the film celebrates rather awkwardly, as surely as it celebrates more genuine aspects with just as much intense passion, of which there is enough to do some serious damage to subtlety at times. On the whole, the film is genuine, or at least powerful enough in its constant efforts as a sweeping drama to soften the blow of potential dramatic shortcomings, but there are still questionable points in drama, as surely as there are questionable areas in padding and pacing, thanks to what might be this film's biggest issue: ambition, something that is worthy and very well-fulfilled on the whole, but a bit too pronounced for the final product to be the bonafide masterpiece that it would have been if it wasn't so desperate at times. Still, make no bones about this, this film borders on the status of masterpiece, and that is an achievement that is nothing short of worthwhile, being sometimes undercut by overambition and other relative shortcomings, but firmly reinforced throughout the film, partially by, of course, fittingly grand musical aspects.

The now-late, great John Barry was an awesome score composer, but after years of "James Bond", he kind of slowed down momentum when it came to genuinely original scores at times, and sure enough, this film's score isn't terribly refreshing, nor is it without certain other issues, as its sweeping soul is sometimes rather misused by the overambition Kevin Costner, as director with a bit too much passion, to the point of supplementing subtlety issues, thus making for an imperfect score, but one that is still nothing short of outstanding, at least having the integrity tom take its familiar musical beats from classical-esque sensibilities that dynamically and sweepingly marry intricate compositions with a profound soul. The inspiration behind this film's musical artistry cannot be ignored, as it is so pronounced and immense in scope and spirit, with strikingly tasteful musicality that helps quite a bit in defining this film as a dramatic epic, much like, of course, what might be the film's most talked-about artistically-charged technical aspect: photography. Dean Semler's cinematography is a bit dated, but earned its acclaim at the time, and remains stunning no matter which era you're in, as it subtly, but surely pronounces light in a striking fashion that consistently breathes a certain degree of handsome depth into coloring, and makes the most magic moments of this film's tastefully well-selected locations near-breathtaking. If Semler handles nothing else extremely well, then it is framing, even during the action sequences, which are few and far between, but make their limited presence count by being tightly framed, yet still with enough broadness for you to get a good grip on the sweep of the battle staging, in all of its engaging glory, which isn't to say that you have to wait until our leads get around to hunting buffalo or white folk to get a helping of grippingly clever tastes in framing, as Semler's and the directing Kevin Costner's plays with the scale of what rests before the camera lens are often immense and elaborate, capturing the grand wonderment of the environment that ultimately proves to be key in the telling of this tale. Technically, the film accels, having only so many stylistic compliments to substance, but making up for limited quantity in technical value count with quality that fits the heart of this film and reinforces substance, something whose concept, alone, does a lot to drive this film. We're not looking at the most refreshing story here, but screenwriter and source material author Michael Blake's interpretation of this sweeping tale of bonding with other cultures through mutual humanity and respect that will define much within both parties is rich and worthy, with depths that could very well craft an all-out masterpiece. Sure, this film's story concept isn't so worthwhile that it could easily be made into a truly great film, as very much reflected by this executions' not milking the vlaue of its subject matter for its worth, thanks to hiccups in pacing, structure and, yes, even dramatic subtlety and depth, but this film has the potential of being truly upstanding, and at the end of the day, it achieves, not necessarily its full potential, but excellence, partially because Blake's translation of his worthy tale to the silver screen is itself fairly worthy.

Michael Blake, as the screenwriter behind this adaptation of his own novel, makes some mistakes, putting together some questionable beat, particularly when it comes to the story structuring, which gets to be a bit excessively overblown at times, but on the whole, Blake's screenwriting efforts are very strong, throwing such touch-ups as the occasional piece of comic relief that don't always work, but prove to be genuinely charming more often than not, complimenting liveliness that Blake mostly establishes through characterization that is very inspired, because where this film's story and characters could have come off as a bit undercooked and a bit too familiar, Blake draws very down-to-earth humanity from this film's characters in order to flesh them out as genuine, with layers that the film has more than enough time to breathe life into. Needless to say, this film puts its opportunities to meditate upon the depths of its story and characters to generally good use, for although the film still outstays its welcome a bit in some spots, you really do get an immersively subjective grip on things when entering this world and embracing its layers, spending three or hour compelling hours observing the fleshing out of our characters as they bond and define themselves, largely thanks to Blake's rich characterization, and partially thanks to humanly effective acting. Now, in all honesty, a few minor performances prove to be a touch offputtingly weak, but when it comes to secondary and primary performances, this film delivers on plenty of talent from its cast members, none of whom are graced with so much acting material that you can expect to find truly great performances, which isn't to say that our more major performers don't still deliver on enough charisma, human grace and, at times, emotional range to be distinguished as engaging individuals, effectively bonded through electric chemistry. The onscreen talent isn't terribly considerable, but the human range within our leads help in reinforcing the film's human range, which recieves plenty of compliments, but can only be truly defined by a certain offscreen performance, which is, of course, inspired enough to do its duty of doing this story concept justice, at least on the whole. Kevin Cosner's directorial debut is, of course, flawed, having atmospheric hiccups that sometimes dry up kick, but mostly drench kick with too much juice for subtlety to be all that commfortably sustained, but on the whole, it's Costner's fulfillment of ambition that truly drives this film as excellent, pulling off such little accomplishments as the delivery on spirited charm to keep entertainment value up through most slow spells, while delivering on such key feats as resonance. No matter how overdone this film gets to be dramatically, when it hits, as it very often does, it cuts deep with its emotional punch, whether when its pumping up the occasional moment of action or intrigue with a bit of tension, or portraying the human depths of this worthy character study with heart that grows warmer and warmer as the story grows more and more fleshed out. The film is never less than good, but it starts out as merely good, with the potential of robbing itself of excellent, then proceeds to build on its compellingness, little by little, as it progresses, rarely, if ever to the point of granting the final product to the greatness that it could have held throughout its course, but decidedly to the point of making the film, on the whole, borderline great, thus making for an epic that is not without its flaws, but still has enough inspiration behind it to do justice to ambition and craft sweeping resonance that rewards profoundly by the end.

When this dance is through, you're left with an dramatic epic that gets to be a bit too forceful with its achievement of a sprawling length, as it reminds you through some slow spells in atmospheric momentum, and also gets to be a bit too forceful with its dramatic range, so it's not like this film was ever to achieve bonafide masterpiece status, but it nonetheless comes close to achieving greatness, as there is enough power to score work, sweeping beauty to cinematography and value to an exceptional story, brought to life by well-rounded writing, strong acting and, of course, soulfully inspired storytelling to make "Dances with Wolves" an exceptional epic that overcomes its issues to grip so as thoroughly rewarding.

3.75/5 - Upstanding.