In the mainstream cinematic landscape in 2024, is there still room for the sort of uncomplicatedly old-school Western epics that used to dominate Hollywood and the box office? The answer is, of course, ‘no, not really’, which is why Horizon arrives in our cinemas with both its production and marketing funded not by the studio that is distributing it, but by its writer, director, and star Kevin Costner. At great expense to himself, Costner has brought us his long-in-the-making and deeply traditionalist passion project, the first film in a planned four-movie saga (which, yeah, we’ll see about that) that walks a fine line between touching earnestness and slightly embarrassing outdatedness.
Befitting its status as part one of four, Horizon spends a lot of its very hefty (3 hours and 1 minute) runtime setting the table – we don’t actually meet Costner’s character for a good long while. Instead, we bounce between frontier territories from 1859 to 1863, meeting our vast ensemble, from honourable US Army cavalryman Trent Gephart (Sam Worthington, giving the film’s standout performance) to widowed frontierswoman Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller) via the leader of a wagon train (played by Luke Wilson) and his many charges.
Costner himself is Hayes Ellison, the archetypal hero cowboy with a mysterious but clearly violent past. Rugged, gallant, good with a pistol, and irresistible to women half his age, Hayes is a hilariously obvious wish-fulfilment self-insert part for Costner, but, hell, he funded the thing, so let him have his fun. It’s in all this constant set-up, though, (we’re still meeting new main characters like 90 minutes into this thing), that Horizon does struggle under its own weight. Though it proves its cinematic bona fides with its gorgeous landscapes, nicely shot under the blazing sun by DOP J Michael Muro, soundtracked by an enjoyably old-school score from John Debney, the pacing here is less like watching a movie and more like watching four episodes of a prestige TV show mashed together, most of the plotlines remaining stubbornly separate from one another right until the closing credits.
It means Horizon only truly thrills in moments, rather than with any consistency, though these moments, from fiery attacks by native Apaches on settler outposts to any number of sweeping establishing shots bathed in the glory of untamed American wilderness and some lovely set design, can be really great. The sincerity here from Costner and his co-writer Jon Baird is often infectious and moving, even when the actual dialogue itself is a bit ham-fisted and frequently delivered by very bad supporting performances. The ensemble cast here is a real mixed bag; most of the leads are solid, but outside of the main five or six performances you’ll find some real stinkers.
As Horizon closes out, it delivers us a montage of what to expect from part 2, which is already completed and ready for release this August, and this little coda/trailer does promise something more cohesive and driven to come. As it stands, though, this is real Sunday afternoon viewing, something that, despite its obvious ambitions, doesn’t actually demand that much close attention. At its best, Horizon is a stirring reminder (though not really a reinvigoration) of the past glories of a genre that is rarely now approached without some sort of irony, and while I’m not sure I’ll be back for part 2, I’m still happy to see a real movie star cash in his money and clout to give us a story both epic and from the heart.
Jack Blackwell – Film Reviews 