All the Pretty Horses

Director Billy Bob Thornton explores coming of age in this Western based on Cormac McCarthy's prize-winning novel of the same name. John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) and Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas) are young Texan men who seek a more fulfilling life as cowboys in the slowly fading Old West, circa 1949. ...more

The mythology of the Western is given a solid treatment by director Billy Bob Thornton in his first film since 1996's Sling Blade, proving he is a filmmaker with strong instincts. Still, Pretty Horses' brevity in some moments hints there was a richer, more shaded picture before its heavy re-editing, and as a result, the work is sometimes a bit unsteady. That said, the script is extremely well-adapted by Ted Tally (who skillfully transferred The Silence of the Lambs to the screen), capturing the ...more