Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (2024, dir. Kevin Costner)

by Jack Martin | Jun 26, 2024

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 181 mins

UK Distributor: Warner Bros

UK Release Date: 28 June 2024

WHO’S IN HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – CHAPTER 1?

Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Danny Huston, Michael Rooker, Jena Malone, Michael Angarano, Abbey Lee, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jon Beavers, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Wasé Chief, Luke Wilson, Ella Hunt, Tom Payne, Will Patton, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Thomas Haden Church, Alejandro Edda, Tim Guinee, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Angus Macfadyen, Douglas Smith, Michael Provost, Kathleen Quinlan, Larry Bagby, James Russo, Dale Dickey, Hayes Costner, James Landry Hébert, Dalton Baker, Georgia MacPhail, Naomi Winders, Austin Archer, Charles Baker

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Kevin Costner (director, writer, producer), Jon Baird (writer), Mark George Gillard and Howard Kaplan (producers), John Debney (composer), J. Michael Muro (cinematographer), Miklos Wright (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In 1860s America, the expansion of the American West takes shape…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – CHAPTER 1?

Not to get too graphic, but Kevin Costner’s throbbing hard-on for the Western genre is more than blatant to the naked eye. Ever since his Oscar-winning epic Dances with Wolves, the actor turned filmmaker has often found himself in the role of a heroic gunslinger, or at the very least wearing a fancy Stetson, in several examples of the genre throughout the years, from playing the titular role of Wyatt Earp in Lawrence Kasdan’s biopic, to his (now former) lead role on the hit TV series Yellowstone.

Costner’s clear infatuation with the old-fashioned Western has prompted him to develop a wide-spanning epic, tentatively titled Horizon, for more than thirty years, but couldn’t quite convince studios at the time to fund his passion project. Now, having put up a large chunk of his own money to partially finance a multi-part film saga, heavily expanded from the original one-movie concept, Costner has finally made his passion project that once again certifies his utter adoration for the classic genre.

The one problem? It’s not very good. At least, this first part (mouthily titled Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1) is not very good. It isn’t a flat-out disaster, and in some parts it’s actually rather impressive in how it’s put together, but as a standalone feature, it is scattershot and uneventful to the extreme, which for the beginning of a major project that lives or dies on first impressions, is quite troubling indeed.

Set in the American West during the 1860s, the basic concept follows the trials and tribulations of a settlement called Horizon, which is built on land already occupied by the Indigenous Apache tribe, who respond with brutal violence to their unwelcome new neighbours, and vice versa. Honestly, that’s about as thorough a plot description as you can possibly get, because this is a film that juggles so many narrative threads that it’s difficult to identify a clear structure, while an endless parade of characters makes it even harder to figure out who we’re meant to be primarily focusing on.

Such characters include, but are far from limited to, Horizon resident Frances Kittredge (Sienna Miller) whose family is killed during a particularly savage Apache attack. Then, there’s various officers of the Union Army who attempt to keep the peace in the area, including Sam Worthington’s First Lieutenant Trent Gephart who begins to romance the newly widowed Kittredge. There are also numerous scenes told from the perspective of the Apache tribe themselves, and their own separate views on the “white-eyes” occupying their land. We also have a naïve British couple (Ella Hunt and Tom Payne) on a wagon trail who butt heads with some of the harder working frontiers, like Luke Wilson’s stern leader Matthew Van Weyden. And then there’s Costner himself, as enigmatic horseman Ellison who, during a pitstop in a Wyoming town, crosses paths with young prostitute Marigold (Abbey Lee), and subsequently becomes involved in a complicated plot involving Marigold’s housemate Ellen (Jena Malone), her infant son, and the two nasty brutes (Jon Beavers and Jamie Campbell Bower) who have come to find the latter two.

Although there are hints of complex themes within some of these plots, and the actors all give reasonably strong performances as their characters, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 doesn’t really know what to do with any of them yet. It’s all set-up and no payoff in the way that Costner and co-writer Jon Baird frame each and every one of these anecdotal plot strands, which vary in size, importance and even tone (the film suddenly becomes a shenanigans-like romantic(ish)-comedy during a segment involving Michael Rooker’s Irish Union soldier). It almost feels like an entire first season of a big-budget Western television series has been crammed into a single three-hour movie, but it’s less Game of Thrones and more The Walking Dead in how it milks all these long stretches where nothing really happens and leaves any resolutions for future seasons/films to depict. Because it is all so inconsequential in its plotting, and because these characters don’t feel like fully formed people as of yet, you really are pulling at straws to find reasons to care about anything or anyone in a film that, regardless of being standalone or the first part of a series, really does need to have some sort of closure to justify its messy plotting.

One such straw you end up pulling at is the fact that it is a rather stunning film to watch, which in some respects does make up for its much thinner storytelling. As a director, Costner clearly has an expansive vision, from the orange plains where Horizon is built up to the wintery hills within the Wyoming landscape, which he and cinematographer J. Michael Muro light up on the screen in order to make the most of these pristine Western locations. There are some shots that may just have you in awe of their detailed beauty, which past Western filmmakers like John Ford and Sergio Leone would almost certainly have approved of, because Costner’s passion for the subject is shining through at all times that you do have to respect his tenacity in just making the thing look as good as it does. If only he had put as much thought and dedication into making this first part work well enough on its own, rather than just an extended teaser for what’s to come next.

Luckily, it’s not that long to wait until Chapter 2 hopefully picks up the pace – it’s currently due out in August, as of writing – but as an introduction to this epic series of films, this is a wobbly start that needed far more finetuning in the script department in order to ensure audiences come back for more.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 works better as an elongated teaser for the remainder of filmmaker Kevin Costner’s ambitious Western than it does as a standalone feature, with far too many characters and unresolved plotlines all competing for the audience’s already dwindling attention – but its stunning filmmaking does at least make you curious about what’s to come next.