Kevin Costner's is an ambitious passion project for the actor/filmmaker, but Costner's best movie of the 2000s feels like it was already establishing the kind of story he wanted to tell. Costner's career in the Western genre has largely defined him as an actor, with one of his breakout roles coming in Silverado, winning Oscars for his directorial debut in Dances with Wolves, playing Old West icon Wyatt Earp, and even starring in the neo-Western series Yellowstone.
Horizon: An American Saga felt like the Western Costner had been building to his whole career. It is an expansive and epic adventure that follows various characters and storylines in an overall look at life on the frontier, with all of its challenges and dangers. The movie was even more ambitious as it was planned as the first part of a four-part series. However, the poor box office and critical reception of the first part put those plans into question. While there is a lot of disappointment surrounding Horizon: An American Saga, Costner pulled off a similar story decades earlier.
Open Range was released in 2003, coming at a time when Costner's career was somewhat in decline, and remains his best movie of the 2000s. Costner directed and starred in the Western movie that follows cattle herder Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) and his former gunslinger partner, Charley (Costner), as they find themselves in a range war with a ruthless landowner (Michael Gambon).
It not only stands out as Costner's best movie of the 2000s, but also his best Western movie as a director.
While Costner was still very much a Hollywood icon at the time of the movie's release, a series of less successful films had seen him drop slightly out of his A-list status. Notably, his previous directorial effort, the dystopian adventure movie The Postman, was a critical failure and a costly box office flop. .
It was a film that reminded audiences of the charm and iconic status of Costner as a movie star, regardless of the fact that he put Duvall in more of the lead role. It also showcased his brilliance as a director, delivering a Western movie that captured the beauty of the frontier land while also having some spectacular shootouts. It not only stands out as Costner's best movie of the 2000s, but also his best Western as a director.
Despite coming more than 20 years prior, Open Range can be viewed as a spiritual predecessor to Costner's next directorial effort, Horizon: An American Saga. Both movies take place in a similar era of the American West, with about 30 years separating the main storylines of both movies. Horizon's multiple storylines focus on different areas, with Arizona being the most prominent. However, like Open Range, there are stories taking place in Montana.
Costner's visual eye as a director also gives the two movies a similar feel. Costner clearly has a passion for the landscape of the American frontier, dedicating beautiful shots to a look at the wide open and seemingly endless land before it was conquered and changed forever. There is a peacefulness that exists in these shots that wonderfully portrays the Western themes that are shared between Open Range and Horizon: An American Saga.
. Both movies showcase how violence is used to communicate power or take retribution. This is shown in the murderous acts of Michael Gambon's villainous land baron in Open Range or the revenge-seeking Sykes brothers in Horizon: An American Saga.
Likewise, Costner's hero character in both movies showcases the necessity for violence in this dangerous world, as Open Range's Charley Waite and Horizon's Hayes Ellison are both men not looking for a fight but always prepared for one.
While Kevin Costner was likely hoping that Horizon: An American Saga would be a similar success as Open Range was in the 2000s, the movie was unfortunately more like his previous disappointment with The Postman. Horizon: An American Saga was made largely with Costner's own money, making its underwhelming box office tally of less than $40 million worldwide a real blow for the star (via Box Office Mojo). The critical reception only added to the disappointment as Horizon earned 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite the similarities between the two projects, Open Range certainly emerges as the bigger success, and there are several reasons for this. While Costner's directing duties in Horizon were praised, many critics felt the storytelling was the weakest aspect, with too many storylines and the open-ended conclusion of Horizon making it difficult to connect with. While Costner clearly had bigger plans for these stories, it led to complaints that the movie felt more like a pilot episode for a TV series.
By comparison, . Audiences were able to connect with these characters and form feelings towards them without being overwhelmed by the rest of the ensemble. This smaller story also allowed Costner to tell a complete story that ended in a satisfying way.
Open Range was a crowd-pleasing comeback story for Costner.
It is also hard not to take into account the narratives surrounding these two movies. When Open Range was released, there was some skepticism about whether Costner still had it as a director. However, when the reviews came in and the movie got off to a strong box office start, the conversation around the movie became that Open Range was a crowd-pleasing comeback story for Costner.
Costner's involvement in Horizon: An American Saga was steeped in controversy early on. The idea of the star funding his own movie was seen by some as a foolhardy approach that could end in disaster, with many people watching the production in anticipation of it going wrong. The story around Costner leaving Yellowstone in order to make Horizon also angered some fans who felt Costner abandoned the beloved show. As a result, the mixed reviews and lackluster box office opening immediately had labeled as a failure.
