The death of the in-theater experience comes galloping in on horseback.
I am, by lineage and by location, a red-blooded American. With that comes some inescapable, and often inexcusable trappings. It’s my birth rite to have inherited a deep and unquenchable appetite for Westerns. Cowboys, sprawling landscapes, revolvers, spittoons, brothels, dust, big hats, tiny glasses, swift justice, horses and mustaches, I want it all, and I want a lot of it. There is simply no end to my yearning, as it’s beginning can be traced back directly to the foundation of this rotten nation. Kevin Costner knows this and he has made a career of it as of late. Doling out more spurs and shootouts than anyone in the last half decade, Costner has firmly planted himself as the chief figurehead for the American Myth Machine, platformed by the writer perhaps most to blame for Costner’s choice to give Horizon: An American Saga Part 1 such a TV-like construction.
It’s not to say I didn’t like it. But it’s not really a movie. Even worse, I feel like Costner has maybe stumbled on to another format entirely that is likely to be another chip in the fragile foundation of the modern cinematic experience. I don’t mean to go full Nostradamus here, but imagine a world where theaters are full of Horizon’s. You could write this off as a mutation of the Marvel format, but to me this feels distinctly like a binge-session of 3 episodes of “not Yellowstone” glued together and packaged as a movie. As of the end of Part 1, there isn’t really a central story past the teased Horizon settlement. Instead, we are given close to 7 separate small story lines, like we’ve just started a new prestige TV series, that at this point are really only held together by their setting. Even more telling, in place of an ending, we are given a classic TV “Next time on Horizon” montage of all the cool shit to come. Once I was able to process what was happening, because it’s not exactly clear, I was able to confirm my beliefs that this is a TV show masquerading as something else and I did something I haven’t done in my entire movie going life, I went to the bathroom before the movie was over. I didn’t even stick around for the end of a 3 hour “movie” because I didn’t think it mattered.
I’m also a bit puzzled by some of Costner’s half-hearted attempts at being subversive. Looking back, his inspirations are clear, Ford, Hawkes, Mann, I think he sees himself as part of that posse, but what separates him is that I’m not sure he knows what he’s trying to say. He offers little tidbits of ideas, about the savagery of white settlers, the departure of British manners, the complexities of indigenous peoples or the perils of war but he either presents them so on the nose it’s a bit embarrassing or not enough to drive the point home. It feels a lot like an old rich guy who has been doing cowboy cosplay up in the hills for a bit too long ran wild with the script and had a bit too much power (or ego) to be wrangled in.
Now, at the end of the day, Costner is an entertainer. He understands what I want from a Western at its most fundamental level and he delivers all the hits. As a visual filmmaker, he’s up there with anyone working, and perhaps this is where he makes the best case for himself amongst the greats of the form. He has a knack for the same kind of myth making imagery that Ford used to immortalize John Wayne, but he doesn’t have quite the same talent as a storyteller to cement those moments. I’m not arguing that Horizon isn’t worth your time, or even that it’s out and out “bad” (though there are certainly some questionable characters and performances), I would just prepare yourself for viewing in the same phone in hand, sweatpants-ed way you’d equip yourself for a night on the couch for a few episodes of whatever Taylor Sheridan is making now. (Please don’t use your phone in theaters, this is more of a mental state I’m describing, not a physical one)
I’ll be there for Horizon: Part 2 because it’s a genetic predisposition and I can’t help myself, but I’ve completely adjusted my expectations. This 2.5 stars isn’t simply a reflection of my enjoyment, because I actually had a really nice time, it’s more a stamp of firm disapproval for whatever may be lurking out there if by some miracle Costner makes his money back.
Last thing I promise, I want to thank Kevin Costner for giving us the most awkward sex scene I have ever seen. When he lays there like a stiffened corpse while he’s mounted by some 30 years his junior, I couldn’t help but laugh. It felt a little gross knowing he wrote that, shot it and likely cast Abbey Lee as well. It’s not like it did much for the story, it just made me feel icky. Really, really icky. Thank god it’s short.
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