Open Range

Although Open Range received very good reviews when it opened in cinemas here in Denmark, the film was released in only a single print. That says something about how little audience appeal the western genre has these days. Admittedly, there is not much renewal to be found in the genre either. Open Range is predominantly traditional in structure, and as in most revisionist westerns of recent years the heroes are perfectly ordinary people who are often a little frayed round the edges themselves. Open Range does, however, boast fantastic widescreen visuals, which means you should treat yourself to seeing the film on the big screen.

The ageing cowboy Boss Spearman and his somewhat younger partner Charley Waite make a living driving their grazing cattle across the great open plains, but the film's slightly wistful point is that this form of cattle ranching - and with it a very particular way of life - is dying out in the 1880s, when the land is no longer common property but is being bought up and cultivated.

The immensely strong but good-natured Mose, who helps out Boss and Charley, is sent for supplies, but when he has not returned after several days, Boss and Charley ride out to look for him. They find him jailed and badly injured in a small prairie town, where the sheriff is in the pocket of the wealthy landowner Baxter, who does not want strangers on what he considers his property.

The rough treatment of Mose turns out to be only the first warning, but Boss and Charley are not so easily scared, and when Baxter crosses the line, they do not turn on their heels but decide to stay and take up the fight against Baxter and his many henchmen. The two newcomers find little support among the town's frightened inhabitants, but amid the violence a mutual attraction develops between Charley and the doctor's unmarried sister Sue.