tomcollinsrocks Billy Bob Thornton is a real director in my eyes. He really outdid himself on this one. The shots were great, the music was perfect, the actors did a great job and the story was very heartwarming. Thank you Billy Bob Thornton, Matt Damon ,Henry Thomas,Penelope Cruz and Ted Tally ! I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner! The Old West is an expensive and not an easy thing to recreate but this film flows right through to the end. Having a good book to start with is a major plus so hats off to Author Cormac McCarthy too ! This movie is a 10 ! I can't say enough so if your surfing around on Netflix, please check it out even though it's already 14 years old.

leplatypus BBT is member of my exclusive club of cinema jerks (that also includes Brad Pitt, Jamie Foxx, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow among others) and even if it was so painful, I'm totally happy to say that his movie is a total crap! Scenes after scenes, I waited the movie to wake up, to give a knee-jerk but it was flat as an horizon. There isn't any rhythm, no storytelling and even my sweet Penélope is unable to put fire as there's nothing to burn! Their passion is unbelievable, the prison break is dull as a nightmare. The stories are badly tied together and the dialog seems only to exist to avoid the mute movie. The Mexican landscapes aren't breathtaking. Casting the sluggish, too soft Damon was a sure kill also. The only good thing was to meet again Eliot (Henry Thomas) twenty years later, and he is still a terrific actor who was worthy of having the parts switched! Enough said

rooster_davis I sometimes check 'contains spoilers' to protect my standing at IMDb but I will try to not give away too much of the plot of All The Pretty Horses.I will admit two things right off... First, I tend to review movies I don't like, more than those I do. And second, I tend to dislike modern 'Western' type movies more than I like them. When I watched "All The Pretty Horses" though, I knew that it was a movie that I would have to post a review about here on IMDb - a positive review, and I was anxious to do so.This is a "Western" in that it takes place with characters who ride horses and wear cowboy hats, and in many ways it could be set in its own era (1949) or a hundred years earlier. It is however not a formula Western (nothing wrong with those BTW, I love 'em) as much as it is a human story that takes place in that setting.ATPH strikes some chords that always appeal to me. For one thing the characters are realistic and likable; you care about them. You get to know them and what happens to them matters enough that to a degree it also happens to you, like seeing someone belt your best buddy. It hurts you too. Well, that's how these characters are to me. You can't just sit by and watch what happens to them without feeling it. Additionally, it takes a simple story and makes it much more interesting by introducing an additional element - in this case, a brilliant element in the person of Jimmy Blevins, a free soul who claims to be sixteen years old. (Lucas Black who played the role was about seventeen at the time, so the role is credible. How many 25 year old teenagers have you seen in movies? I've seen plenty.)Disenchanted with their lives in Texas, sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole and his lifelong buddy Lacey Rawlins set out on horseback for Mexico, hoping to find work on a ranch just like in the 'old days'. En route they encounter the eccentric young Jimmy Blevins, and while outwardly they regard him with disdain, beneath the surface they do actually come to like him. But Blevins is a loose cannon who brings about the plot twists that drive the story. In the next couple of months the trio will face dangers and hardship and other problems in Mexico which they had never anticipated. There will be a brief love affair for one of them; there will be a hellish and dangerous time spent in prison; and while three young men cross the Rio Grande into Mexico, only two will survive to return. This is not a story of violence and killing though there is some of that in it. This is a human story about several people, most of all John Grady Cole. All the cast played their roles quite well. I think that Lucas Black, who played the 'loose cannon' Jimmy Blevins, had a couple of small advantages - the most eccentric role to play, and his own natural accent which made it possible for him to deliver all his lines in a totally believable way even when he is saying something barely above a mumble. Also, the veteran Western character actor Bruce Dern makes an appearance as a wise old judge and it may be one of the best roles he ever played. If I can say anything negative about this movie it is only that being a movie, it was not possible to include as much of the plot as the original book contains. If you enjoy the movie, you will like the book even more. I understand that there was a 'director's cut' which was substantially longer than the released version and I know I would enjoy seeing it, if it became available.I didn't see 'All The Pretty Horses' until it was a dozen years old, and that's too bad because I could have been enjoying it for a lot longer. It's an excellent story and a well-made movie which I recommend highly.

djdrew103 It's not "True Grit" but it has its own purpose that deserves far better ratings than some give it. Some people tend to take their "mood of the day" and enlist it in their otherwise bland perception. This movie deserves more. It's not high excitement, and action adventure, but its noteworthy.A simple story of three young riders that pursue a goal to travel to Mexico to take stock of a situation concerning legitimate horse trading and breeding, and how the ethnic differences and history divide and interrupt otherwise normal life sometimes to inevitable consequences.Tragedy, sickened personalities and lack of justice involve the audience into what one can't help but be pure genuine interest in the plot and storyline.Dull to some, but life wayn't chuck full of lightnin' fast draws and gun playin' nor overwrought with nothing other than second by second action scenes but more of an intrigue in personalty, honorable characterizations and simplicity of human nature and sometimes it's flaws fighting itself for virtuosity performed and carved out of the countryside between Mexico and the U.S.The eventual climax of the movie should leave the viewer with a satisfaction for watching a movie that didn't waste your time.