Costner Revisits The West
In the new Western "Open Range," Kevin Costner plays Charley Waite, a cowboy with a troubled past, who is forced to take up arms when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt rancher.
Costner sat on the director's chair for the fourth time in his career while making "Open Range." He tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, he wanted to direct the film because he enjoyed the script and wanted to be in a Western.
"We haven't seen them in a while," he says. "The ones that we have seen are sometimes lazier than they need to be, little more simple. I think one of the things why people have avoided them is that we haven't dealt with the small things, the little things. Those are the things that attract me.
"And I thought, 'If I didn't direct this, maybe those things that I love most about "Open Range" would go flying by.' So you'll see the big things. You're obligated to get to that gunfight. And we get to it because all hell breaks loose. It's the things that lead up to that that were important to me," Costner says.
He is no stranger to the genre. He has worked not only on Oscar-winning "Dances With Wolves," but on "Silverado" and "Wyatt Earp," too. Costner says he has an appreciation for the old West and good Westerns.
Costner says "Open Range" reveals a slice of American history when the land was open to everyone and roamed by cowboy comrades known as "freegrazers." But, the changing time and a ruthless rancher threaten their way of life.
He says, "People don't often want to put our country and history in reverse. There was a time when there were no fences. People moved across the land freely. But like all things, smart people, ambitious people began to think, 'I'll close things off; I'll put fences.' The advent of the barbed wire came.
"Little outfits couldn't make due. You'd find people with hoods over their face and suddenly your business, your way of life was threatened. Obviously when people's way of life is threatened, you fight back."
Costner chose Robert Duvall as the star- his character's boss and fellow freegrazer. About Duvall's work, Costner says, "He's one of the greatest actors we've ever had. This performance, as people will see, it's a stand-alone performance and a brilliant, brilliant career. The fact that it's in a Western, there's heavy drama. We have Annette Bening who lends her incredible skills in a supporting part in a Western. So do Michael Gambon and Michael Jeter. The actors lined up to be here. So they took it seriously. Even though it comes out as a summary, it will be a movie that will be remembered for a long time."
Critics say that before Costner directed less-than-spectacular movies, such as 1997's "The Postman" and his un-credited work on 1995's "Waterworld," he did his best work on 1990's "Dances with Wolves."
Asked if he was afraid of what the critics may say about his film or being swallowed by other blockbuster films this summer, Costner says, "I'm not afraid. I don't walk through life like a daisy. I'm aware of the world and I see it. I'm not afraid.
"I still believe in the movie experience. I believe that people look for movies like this, not just because it's a Western. They're just looking for fresh air. Because, like a good story, a good book, a good piece of music you want to tell people about. This is one to see opening weekend. It's one to pull off the shelf five years from now, too."
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