By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * * )
It's a Western set in 1949, but Billy Bob Thornton's second directing effort after Slingblade is a road movie in the tradition of Easy Rider and a dozen others. The cowboys are John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) and Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas),
who are followed by a kid named Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black). He wants to come along for the ride and they let him, although they believe he is going to get them into trouble — and they're right.
In Mexico, they get involved in a misunderstanding about stealing horses that requires them to leave town in a hurry. Blevins knows it's his fault and leads the posse astray while John and Lacey lose themselves.
They end up on a ranch owned by Don Hector Rocha y Villarel (Ruben Blades) and the daughter he guards jealously, Alejandra (Penelope Cruz). Yep, more trouble for at least one of our heroes that is going to see one or both of them behind bars before the movie is over.
It has to be said that All The Pretty Horses is better suited to the big screen, because — perhaps strangely for an actor — director Thornton is entranced by the empty sky and the landscape. Still, an intriguing story that's not quite as cliched as it sounds in synopsis. Well worth an evening's viewing.
Running time: 112 mins
Rental: Today
