Friday, June 24, 2022

Y tu Luna también: Open Range (2003, R)

*Mild spoilers.*

Now that I’m doing weekly Tony Leung Chiu-wai reviews with The Duke of Mount Deer, I wanted to pick up my more occasional reviews with a different actor, and Diego Luna was the obvious choice. In the last year, I’ve watched a good chunk of his work, enjoying myself thoroughly, and there’s just too much great stuff in there not to give him the full filmography treatment. This feature is going to be called Y tu Luna también, because what else would I call it?

A small band of cowboys freegrazes their cattle across the West, making their own rules and living as they see fit. But when one of their younger members gets into some trouble on a supply run, veteran cowboys Boss and Charley find themselves in a feud with a corrupt sheriff and an opportunistic rancher, who are determined to claim their cattle and run them out of town.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a western fan, but I enjoy myself well enough when a good one comes along. And as I’ve also said, I have a lot of affection for westerns that realize that not all cowboys were white, so I was excited when I saw that Luna had a western in his filmography. When I was initially scrolling through the movies on his IMDb, this film was probably the one I was most interested in and (cautiously) excited for.

It turns out that caution was well-warranted. Open Range is fine, but it didn’t really scratch the itch I was looking for. While there is one Mexican cowboy present onscreen, the story is all about Boss and Charley, stoic white men of the West with hints of darker pasts, men who want to live simply and quietly but who are more than capable of handling themselves when greedy men come along picking fights. The first part of the movie, which establishes the itinerant life of the four cowboys, is full of Boss and Charley giving sage, laconic wisdom to their younger charges, Mose and Button. And when the sheriff and rancher start twirling their mustaches, these towering pillars of men saddle up, load their guns, and stoically prepare to do what needs to be done.

In short, it’s just a lot more “same old thing” than I was hoping for. It doesn’t mean it’s badly made—I’s not. On the whole, I’d say it’s well done, and the performances are mostly strong. Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner deliver what they’re meant to, there’s a nice turn from Annette Benning as the closest thing the film has to a female lead, and Michael Gambon is suitably-slimy as the villainous rancher. I’d say the film generally succeeds at what it sets out to do, but that just doesn’t interest me as much. Somewhere between the townsfolk looking to these two courageous strangers to save them from their corrupt leaders and Charley saving a puppy from a flood (literally,) it gets to be too much deification of these noble cowboys for me.

But hey, let’s talk Diego Luna! The bad news is that it’s a long movie and his part isn’t that big. He plays Button, who is one of the four cowboys in the central group, but again, the movie isn’t really about the group. It’s about Boss and Charley. Mose is part of the inciting incident that puts them in the sheriff and rancher’s crosshairs, while Button plays the role of the “now it’s personal!” quasi-damsel. Button is badly hurt when the ranchers’ goons come after the cattle, thus motivating Boss and Charley to go all scorched-earth on the bad guys. But this means that, after the first half-hour, most of Luna’s screentime is devoted to wordlessly convalescing. I guess this still would’ve been pretty early days for him in Hollywood, so maybe it’s not surprising that his role is plot-pivotal but small. Naturally, though, I wish we got more.

This is especially true because, when he’s not being used as a plot device to fuel Boss and Charley’s righteous anger, I really like Button. That first section of the movie, with the four cowboys traveling across the open range, is my favorite part. Button is the newest and youngest member of the group (Boss mentions at one point that he’s 16,) and while he’s super eager to prove his worth while avoiding the least desirable grunt work, he’s kind of running before he can walk. Yes, it gets a little corny to have Boss and Charley offering him sage cowboy wisdom every few minutes, but Luna makes those scenes work precisely because Button isn’t an earnest vessel waiting to soak up all their experience and knowledge. He can be a little shit sometimes, complaining about chores he doesn’t want to do and pestering when he’s denied opportunities he wants. Compared to Boss and Charley’s stalwart western archetypes, Button feels more like a person, which adds just enough sharpness and unpredictability to balance out some of the more clichéd moments.

Recommend?

In General – Nah. It’s— I mean, it’s fine, but it didn’t hold my interest well.

Diego Luna – Soft maybe. I really enjoy what we get of Button, but there’s not much of him in a very long movie. Honestly, if you’re purely in it for the Luna of it all, you could just shut it off after the first half-hour.

Warnings

Lots of violence, language, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.

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