Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1
2024
**½
Director: Kevin Costner
Cast: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jamie Campbell Bower, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Tatanka Means
Kevin Costner's epic 3-hour Western chronicles the expansion and settlement of the American West in the 1860s, and it shows the harsh realities of frontier life. There are three (so far) unconnected stories set in the Arizona Territory, Montana Territory, and on the Santa Fe Trail. This is the first of four projected films, and it delivers three beginnings, but no middles, and no ends. In terms of pacing and style, this looks like a three-episode TV show followed by a teaser for the next season. The first hour is reasonably compelling, but the film gradually loses its grip as it goes along. Costner himself plays a horse trader who shoots a man to protect a prostitute.
