All the Pretty Horses (film)

Infobox Film
name = All the Pretty Horses

---

caption = "All the Pretty Horses" promotional movie poster
director = Billy Bob Thornton
producer =
writer = Cormac McCarthy
Ted Tally
starring = Matt Damon
Penélope Cruz
Henry Thomas
music = Marty Stuart
Kristin Wilkinson
Larry Paxton
cinematography =
editing = Sally Menke
distributor = Columbia Pictures (USA)
Miramax Films (non-USA)
released = December 25, 2000
runtime = 116 min
country =
awards =
language =
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0149624

"All the Pretty Horses" is a 2000 film, directed by Billy Bob Thornton and based on the novel of the same title by American author Cormac McCarthy. It stars Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz.

Plot summary

The movie tells the story of John Grady Cole, a sixteen year old cowboy, and his best friend Lacey Rawlins, crossing the border to move south to Mexico.

They encounter, among others, a young boy named Jimmy Blevins, whom they befriend, and a young aristocrat's daughter, Alejandra, with whom John Grady Cole falls in love. In Mexico he becomes disillusioned by the atrocities of the world.

Editing

After Billy Bob Thornton completed his cut (said to be somewhere between three and four hours) producer/distributor Harvey Weinstein forced him to cut more than one hour out of it. Peter Biskind suggests in Down and Dirty Pictures that this was at least partially done as payback for Thornton's refusal to cut "Sling Blade" down. In the end, Thornton was forced to cut the film down, which had an impact on the storytelling. Matt Damon was publicly critical of this decision, saying to Entertainment Weekly, "You can't cut 35% of the movie and expect it to be the same movie."

Some attempts have been made to release a director's cut DVD, but arrangements can not be reached with the original composer, Daniel Lanois. As part of the re-cut, Weinstein scrapped the original score and hired Marty Stuart. Lanois felt insulted, and has steadfastly refused to license his score (which, unusually, he owns) to any release of the film.Fact|date=August 2007

Critical response

Reviews of the film were generally negative, criticizing it as a poor adaptation of the novel and a dramatically un-involving film. The comment of "Entertainment Weekly" critic Lisa Schwarzbaum was typical: "Faced with a choice of blunt instruments with which to beat a good book into a bad movie, director Billy Bob Thornton chooses heavy, random, arty imagery and a leaden pace." The characters were also derided as undeveloped, and some reviewers considered there to be a lack of chemistry between the lead actors. The film's sweeping visuals, however, were consistently praised.Fact|date=August 2007

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149624/ All the Pretty Horses at IMDb]

References