After a series of well-publicized flops, Kevin Costner is back where he belongs, on a horse. Galloping back to his Dances with Wolves and Wyatt Earp days, Costner is at home on this Range; this time, he plays a soft-spoken cowboy with a burden of guilt about his compulsion to kill. Costner also directs and does a good job rounding up stars such as Robert Duvall, who gives one of his finest performances as Costner's longtime boss.
The two use a lot of that strong cowboy silence to communicate, the scenery is killer (the killing is scenic), and Duvall's acerbic wit comes through at just the right moments. At over two hours long--it is a Kevin Costner film after all--Open Range could've used some editing giddyap, sure. But this is a great big western, so you've gotta give it some room, or else, you know, you'll end up full of lead.