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All The Pretty Horses


Dusty Morningwood

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I have been reading Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy. Finished All The Pretty Horses a few days ago. Did not know it had been made into a movie. Is it worth renting? Now, before a couple of you start ranting about Matt Damon being a Hollywood Puke and you wouldn't watch anything with him in it (you know who you are), just pipe down and let others with an opinion of the artistic merits of the film speak up. Thanks in advance.

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Guest Paniolo Cowboy SASS #75875
I have been reading Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy. Finished All The Pretty Horses a few days ago. Did not know it had been made into a movie. Is it worth renting? Now, before a couple of you start ranting about Matt Damon being a Hollywood Puke and you wouldn't watch anything with him in it (you know who you are), just pipe down and let others with an opinion of the artistic merits of the film speak up. Thanks in advance.

 

:lol:

 

Now that's funny Dusty.

 

How do you talk about "the artistic merits of the film" without talking about the Star of the movie, ie: his role, his character developement and portrayal, his deliverery, his acting abilities, or if he was able to carry the film?

 

;)

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All the Pretty Horses

 

All the Pretty Horses

 

The year is 1949. A young Texan named John Grady finds himself without a home after his mother sells the ranch where he has spent his entire life. Lured south of the border by the romance of cowboy life and the promise of a fresh start, Cole and his pal embark on an adventure that will test their resilience, define their maturity, and change their lives forever.

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How do you talk about "the artistic merits of the film" without talking about the Star of the movie, ie: his role, his character developement and portrayal, his deliverery, his acting abilities, or if he was able to carry the film?

So you've seen the film? Was the acting horrible? Did it not follow the book well? Or is it something else?

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Do you like the book? If so, the movie is a pretty good match. They change it up a bit, like they always do, but it is good, and pretty true to the book.

 

Matt Damon does a good job of bringing John Grady Cole to life. Honestly though, Lucas Black steals the screen in what is, in my opinion, an almost perfect rendition of Jimmy Blevins.

 

I am a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy. I get excited and a bit apprehensive every time one of his books get transferred to the screen. In my opinion, All The Pretty Horses passes muster.

 

YMMV,

Boondock

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Do you like the book? If so, the movie is a pretty good match. They change it up a bit, like they always do, but it is good, and pretty true to the book.

 

Matt Damon does a good job of bringing John Grady Cole to life. Honestly though, Lucas Black steals the screen in what is, in my opinion, an almost perfect rendition of Jimmy Blevins.

 

I am a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy. I get excited and a bit apprehensive every time one of his books get transferred to the screen. In my opinion, All The Pretty Horses passes muster.

 

YMMV,

Boondock

I did like the book. Typically bummer of an ending, though, but that is what McCarthy does. Got it downstairs now and will watch it tomorrow night. Have to watch the Packers play tonight. ;)

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Guest Paniolo Cowboy SASS #75875
So you've seen the film? Was the acting horrible? Did it not follow the book well? Or is it something else?

 

Actually I did see it, back in 2000 or 2001 when it first came to the theaters. And yes there was a reason it tanked in the theaters.

 

As for the lead, I thought Matt Damon's role was pourly done and extremely flat. It was as bad as when he did The Legend of Bagger Vance the year before. He has a very plastic reserved persona that he brings to the role.

 

In the novel his character has a fullness of a Cowboy, Matt Damon's idea of the character was Soap Opera perfect with no depth to his character at all. His acting abilities do not show well in this movie. He doesn't match the character in the book at all.

 

It was just like the romance in the film between he and Penelope Cruz, it never seems to get a spark going. And the whole sensitive drama thing stinks. He makes an unconvincing Cowboy.

 

Variety said of Damon's work in All the Pretty Horses: "Matt Damon just doesn't quite seem like a young man who's spent his life amidst the dust and dung of a Texas cattle ranch. Nor does he strike any sparks with Penelope Cruz."

 

When I first saw the film, since I didn't know who Matt Damon was or how he does his roles, I marked it down as a poor adaptaion of a good book and just poor direction by Billy Bob Thornton. Even with his jagged film style the movie seemed tiresome and blah.

 

Overall the only things that worked well in the movie are the horses and the scenery. At least the glimpses that we the audience do get.

 

For me, the movie as a whole was slow and dull. Very boring. The movie lacks vitality. It seemed like a waste of time. But hey, some people like to sit in a Dentist chair and wait for the dental hygienists to finish talking with her boyfriend while you wait. That's about what it's like.

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By and large the book dragged along, too, but so does real life. John Grady in the novel is not by and large a dynamic character. He is shy, awkward and a man of few words. The romantic parts of the book did not exactly sizzle and much went on behind the scenes that the reader was not privy to. Watched part of it last night and think all of the characters are doing a respectable job of portraying the characters in the book. I agree with Boondock Saint. Lucas Black is a great Jimmy Blevins.

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Lucas Black was the only one that captured the personality of a hardscrabble kid out of the Texas ranch country. Although an Alabaman, he was entirely believable in his role. None of the others were in character with the except of some of the Mexican actors.

 

I read where Lucas turned down a role in the Horse Whisperer because the producer wanted him to change his accent. Now, I really like that boy even more!

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Guest Paniolo Cowboy SASS #75875
Lucas Black was the only one that captured the personality of a hardscrabble kid out of the Texas ranch country. Although an Alabaman, he was entirely believable in his role. None of the others were in character with the except of some of the Mexican actors.

 

I read where Lucas turned down a role in the Horse Whisperer because the producer wanted him to change his accent. Now, I really like that boy even more!

 

+1

 

That's my opinion as well.

 

Merry Christmas Sam!

 

:blush:

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Well, I finished watching it and was moderately happy with the results. But like most translations to film, so much of the book was lost or compressed. Having read the novel the movie made sense, but might not have had as much impact for someone who had not. I did not have any complaints about the acting, though. I personally think the actor who played the Captain of the Rurales gave one of the best performances, but that was due to the Director giving him lots of camera face time.

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