All the Pretty Horses (2000)
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A young cowboy travels to Mexico to seek work, only to find himself entangled in a web of unrequited love and violent conflict.
The story
In 1949, young cowboy John Grady Cole is rendered homeless after his family's ranch is sold. He asks his best friend Lacey Rawlins to leave his family ranch in San Angelo, Texas, and join him to travel on horseback to cross the border 150 miles south to seek work in Mexico. They encounter a peculiar boy named Jimmy Blevins on the trail to Mexico, whom they befriend, but from whom they then separate. Later on, they meet a young aristocrat's daughter, Alejandra Villarreal, with whom Cole falls in love. Cole and Rawlins become hired hands for Alejandra's father, but Cole's romantic interest in Alejandra is not welcomed by her wealthy aunt.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1949, young cowboy John Grady Cole is rendered homeless after his family's ranch is sold. He asks his best friend Lacey Rawlins to leave his family ranch in San Angelo, Texas, and join him to travel on horseback to cross the border 150 miles south to seek work in Mexico. They encounter a peculiar boy named Jimmy Blevins on the trail to Mexico, whom they befriend, but from whom they then separate. Later on, they meet a young aristocrat's daughter, Alejandra Villarreal, with whom Cole falls in love. Cole and Rawlins become hired hands for Alejandra's father, but Cole's romantic interest in Alejandra is not welcomed by her wealthy aunt. After Alejandra's father takes her away, Cole and Rawlins are arrested by Mexican police and taken to prison, where they visit Blevins, who has been accused of stealing a horse and of murder, and is killed by a corrupt police captain. Cole and Rawlins are sent to a Mexican prison for abetting Blevins's crimes, where they must defend themselves against dangerous inmates. Alejandra's aunt frees Cole and Rawlins, on the condition that she never sees them again. While Rawlins returns to his parents' ranch in Texas, Cole attempts to reunite with Alejandra over her family's objections. She decides she must keep her word and will not go with him. Cole sets out to get revenge on the captain who took Blevins's life, as well as to get back his, Rawlins's and Blevins's horses. After making the captain his prisoner, he turns him over to a group of Mexican men. Returning to the United States, Cole is arrested by a sheriff's deputy for suspected horse theft. In court, the judge believes him and orders Cole freed and the horses returned. Cole feels guilty about Blevins's death and eventually returns his friend's horse.
- First release year
- 2000
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Billy Bob Thornton
- Writers
- Ted Tally · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Matt Damon · John Grady Cole; Henry Thomas; Lucas Black; Penélope Cruz · Alejandra Villarreal; Rubén Blades; Robert Patrick; Bruce Dern; Sam Shepard
- Genres
- Western; romantic drama
- Themes
- Unrequited love; Loss of traditional way of life; Guilt; Revenge
- Tone and mood
- Dark; Spare; Haunting; Leaden
- Setting
- San Angelo, Texas and Mexico, 1949
- Premise and plot tags
- Western; Road Movie; Drama; Historical
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1992 novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy
- Reception
- The film received mostly negative reviews, being criticized as a poor and flat adaptation of the novel. It was a box office bomb, grossing only $18.1 million against a $57 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 32% · review count: 100; Metacritic · score: 55 · scale: 100 · review count: 29; CinemaScore · score: C+ · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Best Screenplay · National Board of Review · Win; Best Original Score · Golden Globes · Nomination; Grand Prix · Paris Film Festival · Nomination; Best Supporting Actor · Young Artist Awards · Nomination
- Production trivia
- It was the first film adaptation from a Cormac McCarthy novel.; Jesse Plemons was cast as a younger John Grady Cole, but his scenes were cut.; The theatrical cut was reduced from a total runtime of three hours and 40 minutes to one hour and 55 minutes due to studio demands.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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