Beautiful as the Mexican sky -- nearly as empty, too

'All the Pretty Horses' has lots of scenery, not much story

By Paul Tatara
CNN.com reviewer

(CNN) -- There's a lot of gorgeous footage in Billy Bob Thornton's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's much-revered book, "All the Pretty Horses." There just isn't much of a film, not when you consider the amount of energy that's spent establishing a gloriously evocative sense of time and place.

Matt Damon's earthy movie star performance is well worth seeing, but don't go in expecting a sustained sense of drama. Thornton has directed a coffee-table novel. There seems to be a lot missing in the spaces between the action, and Penelope Cruz, who plays Damon's love interest, basically blows through a couple of times like a sexy tumbleweed.

This, by the way, won't be a review of McCarthy's book, or a comparison between his work and what Thornton has or hasn't put on the screen. We're talking about the movie here, because that's all people who've never read the book will be getting when they sit down to watch.

That's all anybody gets, really. Thornton certainly captures McCarthy's sense of scope, although some of Marty Stuart's self-consciously soaring music sounds too much like the usual "Magnificent Seven" (1960) rewrite.

It's the late 1940s. Damon plays John Grady Cole, the youngest son of a Texas rancher. When his father dies, John Grady loses the land that he loves so deeply. His estranged mother sells it right out from under him, thus throwing him for a spiritual loop. He and his best friend, a rather skeptical cowboy named Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas), decide to chuck everything and head off to Mexico, where they hope to sign on as ranch hands. Cue the booming music! Lower the camera tripod until three-quarters of the screen is filled with big, blue sky! We're ridin' to Mexico!

Thornton just loves the "come a ti yi yippy," John Ford stuff. Nothing of any real substance happens for most of the first hour, but you put up with it because everything looks so great. You can practically breathe the fresh air and feel the wind in your face.

During the ride to the border, the two friends meet up with Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black), a sharp-shooting teen-age drifter. Blevins is nice enough, but hot-headed, and he seems like trouble. Eventually, police will want Blevins for "stealing" his own horse, among more unfortunate things, and the two wandering cowhands will be working on a ranch.

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John Grady is chosen to help in the breeding of quarter horses by the ranch's owner, an extremely wealthy man named Roca (Ruben Blades). But John Grady's breeding instincts are mostly aimed in the direction of Roca's ridiculously beautiful daughter, Alejandra (Penelope Cruz). Alejandra, as you may well imagine, is a certifiable hot tamale.

Unfortunately, her character gets badly -- and rather strangely -- short-changed. A troubling turn of event leads to Alejandra's departure, then she's forgotten while John Grady is entombed in a veritable hell on earth.

That's when things get pretty interesting. For about 25 or 30 minutes in the middle of the second act, you're drawn into the events. Let's just say that Damon's character is forced into an ugly situation and has to do some terrible things to defend himself.

It's all a little too James Cagney, but Damon pulls it off with gusto. He's a good actor who's getting better with each starring role. This is his strongest performance to date. He's adept at portraying straight-shooting honesty, an agreeably old-fashioned persona.

Julio Oscar Mechoso is frightening as a vicious Mexican police captain, and the final act has moments that are quite moving. But the ending feels truncated, or approached at an odd angle. You can sense the emotional bedrock underlying the narrative; there just isn't a current of feeling flowing throughout the story. For once, it seems likely that a DVD loaded with extra footage will tell a more consistently involving yarn.

This is not a completely blown opportunity. Thornton has never dealt with something so big before ... although his strength lies in understanding a bigness of spirit. He makes movies that are somehow reminiscent of latter-day Bruce Springsteen songs: They're stark tales of working men who have either given up hope (Dwight Yoakam in 1997's "Swing Blade"), or are fighting to regain their very souls (Damon and Thomas in this film). Thornton almost certainly will be making some very good movies in the future.

All The Pretty Horses

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