The Plot: While the US Civil War mostly rages to the east of the country, Union soldier Trent (Sam Worthington) finds himself based in a western outpost. He comes into contact with pioneer settler and mother Frances (Sienna Miller), who is looking for a new life in her covered wagon. The pioneers keep on coming, observed by the Apaches whose land this is and who will fight to protect it. Meanwhile, horse trader and occasional cowboy Hayes (Kevin Costner) is thrown together with lady of the night Marigold (Abbey Lee) as they flee a number of other cowboys with itchy trigger fingers…
The Verdict: Kevin Costner returns to directing for the first time since 2003 with what could come to be regarded as his magnum opus – Horizon: An American Saga. It’s a four-part saga tracing the before, during and after of the divisive and destructive US Civil War which thrust cousin against cousin on different sides of the country, along with the expansion and settlement of the mythical West. Pouring a significant amount of his own money into it along with international financiers, it’s a hugely ambitious and potentially risky project that may not set the box office on fire. Costner seems unconcerned though. It’s been a passion project of his for decades and it seems that nobody can stop a determined man with a six shooter and a dream. As Costner himself puts it, history for him comes alive and he wants to tell all of it. Could it be initially dismissed as another Kevin’s Gate, as once happened to a little Oscar-winning film called Dances With Wolves?
On the evidence of Chapter 1, it appears that Costner’s instincts are mostly correct. What we have here is a big, old-school Hollywood epic in the style of the so-called horse operas of yore like The Big Country. This is a sprawling, leisurely-paced film that for 3 hours soaks in its details of characters, environments and the promise of something better waiting way out yonder. Those with short attention spans need not apply. With its multiple storyline strands and characters – soldiers, gunslingers, pioneers, natives and opportunists – it unfolds like a tome-sized novel but that’s not necessarily a cause for concern. It’s not like Costner has bitten off more than he can chew here. He has previous form in this most uniquely American of film genres. One wild west way or another, Costner is in this for the long game and he’s going to keep ’em coming regardless of box office returns. One has to at least admire his seemingly unshakeable confidence. He knows how to bat away the naysayers.
Costner’s script with Jon Baird and Mark Kasdan tracks multiple characters over the course of several years, building up to what appears to be a future meeting of the crossroads in the town of Horizon where a new dawn might be possible for these disparate characters. Given the publicity for the film, one might think that top-billed Costner is the main focus – not really. He doesn’t appear until well into the film in the second act, so it becomes apparent that the script is dotted with characters that it catches up with over the course of the narrative. That lack of a central focus – one character who is the connecting thread through all the stories – is disorienting at times. Who are we to root for exactly? While Costner is tipping his Stetson to John Ford with a slightly sketchy character not unlike Ethan in The Searchers, there’s not much sense here of genuine character development – not yet anyway. Maybe Costner is saving that up for further chapters.
The film has been handsomely mounted by Costner and his production team, relaying that the beautiful but often harsh landscape of the West becomes a character in itself. It was filmed solely in the diverse Utah countryside including the red rock canyons of the Moab area, the La Sal Mountains and Zion National Park which this reviewer experienced first hand recently. It has an authentic wild west atmosphere, unspoiled by time or the hand of man thereby making it an ideal place for a western with a binocular-like eye into the historical perspective too. That’s not to say that it’s all preachy about America’s distant past. Costner comfortably leans into the tropes of the genre with some suitably frantic gunfights and Apache attacks which keep the plot ticking over as the characters move ever westwards. The performances are pitched just right too, with Costner and his fellow actors investing enough to suggest a welcome catch-up with them further down that dusty road.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 hints at the potential for something truly great, but right now it’s still only a fledgling first part that’s asking audiences to grab their six shooters and spurs to settle in for a long, long journey. It’s a worthwhile journey to saddle up for though and the time flies by, but one hopes that further chapters will add more character depth and up the stakes as the expansion west continues. The concluding sneak peak of Chapter 2 suggests that – it follows on 16th August. Chapter 3 is filming now.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Review by Gareth O’Connor
