“Open Range has the best western gun battle.
Absolutely. It’s the centerpiece of the movie.
True Grit (1969) was before Robert Duvall became a ‘leading man’. Much of what he’d done before that was TV. He made a name for himself as the consigliare in The Godfather (1972), and that’s when his career began to bloom.”
I agree with what you both are saying but for Open Range, do you think the K.Costner character would’ve been better if he portrayed his character more like a ranch hand who’d never experienced a gunfight and rose to the challenge rather than an ex-gunfighter? That’s who Costner plays most realistically. Think “Field of Dreams.” Anyway, just my thoughts.
No, I think Costner’s role as “a now” reluctant gunfighter is central to the movie. I doubt the gunfight scene could have been brought off any other way. Duvall’s character couldn’t provide the audacity needed to pull off the scene. Thus, would Boss Spearman (Duvall) have followed anyone else into that fray?
If you’re considering Costner’s earlier appearances in such less “macho” roles as Field of Dreams and Dances With Wolves, check out John Wayne’s unforgettable role in The Quiet Man, or even the earlier The Shepherd of the Hills. They were both roles contrary to the “macho” image Wayne had brought to the screen, yet he was marvelous in them.
Shepherd of the Hills is a favorite John Wayne film of mine. Not as much because of John Wayne, but because of Harry Carey. He was the spittin’ image of my grand dad, and this role made me realize that. My grand dad wasn’t the tough Westerner Carey portrayed in his Westerns, but the gentle man he portrayed in this film. That, along with his looks, did it for me...forever.
I really liked Open Range, one of the few movies I’ve liked Costner in.
I just watched To Kill a Mockingbird. Robert Duvall played Bo. He looked kinda like Robert Redford. That was a long time ago.
By the way, I checked that movie out at the library. I’ve discovered that’s a great way to get movies and it’s free.