The Power of the Dog     4 ½ stars

Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog is classified as a Western but is unlike any western that I can remember. There is no gunplay or fist fighting, but there is plenty of conflict and tension in this slow moving drama set on a cattle ranch in 1925 Montana. Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), one of two brothers operating the extravagant family ranch, is a swaggering, commanding cowboy who demands as audience. When he sees vulnerabilities in others, he takes advantage of them including his own brother George (Jesse Plemons) who he berates, referring to him as Fatso. Phil’s character is established when the ranchers come across the lonely widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) at a nearby restaurant and Phil sees his chance to berate the young, effeminate teenager. George sees the beautiful qualities in Rose and soon marries her and makes her the woman of the ranch. We all have come across people like Phil before. He is the bully, who despite being highly intelligent, seeks gratification by attacking others to make himself feel important. He even goes out of his way to appear stinky and dirty to embarrass his brother when guests come for dinner. The dialogue is usually kept to a minimum with the camera focusing on the vast landscape with New Zealand standing in for Montana. The score with its eerie sounds serves to magnify the tension that we feel between the characters. I won’t give away the plot but there is a frequent reference to an older ranch hand who has passed away and was the one who taught Phil and George about ranching. This is important. The movie is based on a book and has something significant to say about what it is to be a man. There is a lot going on below the surface with these multilayered characters that makes this a first-rate drama. However, the slow pace and lack of physical action is bound to turn off some audiences.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1                  3 ½ stars

If you go to see Kevin Costner’s sweeping epic of the Old West, Horizon: An American Saga, you had better make sure you are in for the long haul. The movie clocks in at more than three hours and has a multitude of characters for you to keep track of. As the title implies, this is chapter 1 of what will eventually be a four-part series of movies, all of which lead to and center on a growing community in the American Southwest called Horizon. Early in the movie there is a scene of a celebration at a barn dance one night in the new town. Some nearby Apache Indians are not so enthralled with their new neighbors, so a group of them launches an attack on the new settlers in one of the most brutal scenes I can remember in the movies. (It’s on a scale of what I remember in The Revenant.) The town ends up destroyed with most of the residents dead, including many of one family, the Kittredges who put up a tremendous fight. The matriarch, Francis (Sienna Miller) and her daughter alone survive. There is a nearby US Army outpost with a contingent of soldiers that comes to the rescue, though they are too late to be of help. One soldier in particular, Lt. Gephardt (Sam Worthington) delivers a message to the survivors that they should reconsider their decision to come to this land inhabited by hostile Indians, but the settlers are unwilling to take this advise and there lies the drama and the message of the film. The lure of this land to be settled by the white travelers (and other races) leaving their former homes cannot be quenched. They must stay and others like them will continue to come, drawn by the promise of a better life. Repeatedly we see a poster about Horizon, promising unlimited land to those brave enough to make the journey. Other story lines also find characters finding their way here, one of them involving a horse trader who has found various ways of making a living named Hayes Ellison (Kevin Costner). Ellison, who is very accomplished at handling a gun, finds his life entwined with a young woman, Marigold (Abbey Lee) who is on the run from men who would like to see her dead. This mysterious man will be drawn to Horizon as well. An additional story line focuses on the Apache Indian tribe and the internal divisions that occur as a result of the incursions of the white folk. One of them, Pionsenay (Owen Crow Shoe) is the leader of the war party, but he cannot defend his people from the inevitable retaliation from the armed settlers who practice scalping the dead for bounty. Finally, we follow a wagon train coming from Kansas on the Santa Fe trail, also seeking the new land, led by Matthew (Luke Wilson) who must deal with all the internal problems of the pioneers and be concerned about Indian attacks as well. It is a challenge for the viewer to keep up with the various stories and so many characters as the story seems so expansive. It is likely this is what Costner intended as this series has long been a dream of his that is now becoming reality. There is plenty more promised as we see at the end of the movie from a long montage of scenes involving our characters and some new ones that preview what is to come. Horizon should be considered to be more of a mini-series than a movie. Chapter 2 is expected sometime this fall, with additional chapters next year. Chapter 3 is about to begin production. Chapter 1 felt like a marathon. I am hoping that the next ones will be less than three hours!