Horizon: An American Saga would have been better off on TV. Kevin Costner’s love child falters badly on the big screen. He directed and co-wrote the film and it appears he wanted to make the project move at a slow pace.
Too slow.
I was painfully disappointed in this western attempt. Anyone who reads my reviews know that I adore the western genre. This saga would have fit the old “mini-series” format perfectly. 3 hours and 1 minute of agonizing slowness amounts to torture.
It actually feels much longer.
The story
The saga appears to be following the American west and its ever growing expansion.
The main cast
Kevin Costner is Hayes Ellison. The man who apparently intertwines his story with everyone else in the film.
Sienna Miller is Frances Kitterege.
The Rest of the Cast
While this is not a “cast of thousands” there are enough names to make this “look” like a winning combination of talent and story.
From Michael Rooker to Danny Huston to Luke Wilson Horizon: An American Saga has a lot of quality actors. Sadly this does not help the film move along.
Jeff Fahey has little to do as a tracker and the same can be said of Will Patton. It was great, however, to see Isabelle Fuhrman.This actor rocked in Orphan and she manages to make the most of her almost cameo role.
Why it does not work
Like Wyatt Earp, Costner’s own version of the legendary lawman, the pacing is far too slow. Moments meant to be suspenseful are only boring. Everything takes an inordinate amount of screen time.
Moving like molasses in winter, the film takes far too long to finish any vignette. Each story of this overly long saga meanders and moves at a snail’s pace. There are good stories here, but it takes far too long to get any message or entertainment value.
How much better it could have been had he decided to use the “Lonesome Dove” approach. A mini-series that allows for a slower format. Where each week the audience slowly learns more about each character.
Costner has let himself down here. His languidly paced story telling has cost him any interest the saga may have offered. This combined with his reliance on a certain amount of western stereotypes has doomed the film to failure. The second chapter of the saga opens in November 2024. Perhaps this offering will pick things up a bit.
the verdict
Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter 1 earns a poor 3 stars out of 5. It loses so much to the poor writing and dragging pace of the film. It is streaming on Max. Prepare to take breaks from the film as it struggles forward.
*Somewhat amazingly, IMDb give this one a 6.8.
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