‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1’ review: Kevin Costner goes west (again)

With the exception of Clint Eastwood, there isn’t an actor who has made the western their own in the modern era in the way Kevin Costner has. From starring in 1985’s Silverado with Kevin Kline to directing the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves (1990) and Open Range (2003), Costner fits the genre like a well-tailored Stetson. So now he’s back with the most ambitious film of his career, Horizon: An American Saga, a largely self-funded project that he directs and stars in.

Already a second part is due in August, with a third and possibly fourth set to follow, making this an epic western (albeit for the big screen) in the mould of classic Eighties TV show Lonesome Dove. All set around the American Civil War, Chapter 1 is a three-hour slow-burn that takes some patience, but rewards with handsome vistas, moments of thrilling action and characters that will likely grow in significance in subsequent instalments. If you feel a big Red Dead Redemption-shaped hole in your life after completing the Rockstar video game, this might help.

An ensemble story about the expansion of the Old West, Costner himself doesn’t arrive until the first hour has elapsed. He plays Hayes Ellison, a pioneer cowboy who is the classic strong, silent type. He’s one of many characters in this ensemble that bounces between Wyoming, Montana and other States, but also focuses on Horizon – a settlement that has yet to become a fully-functioning town, not least because the inhabitants are frequently attacked by Apache raiders. Among those who suffers is Frances (Sienna Miller), a married mother-of-two, whose house and family are targeted in an astounding action sequence.

Backed by a support cast of stalwart Hollywood actors (Luke Wilson, Danny Huston, Will Patton, Michael Rooker among them) the most prominent male star, Costner aside, is Avatar’s Sam Worthington who plays Trent Gephart, a U.S. army First Lieutenant who finds himself drawn to Miller’s character in later scenes. There’s also room for resolute female heroes played by Jena Malone and Abbey Lee, women who are survivors in different ways in this hostile frontier environment.

The Native American characters are not quite as well drawn, but they have enough scenes to suggest they will be further developed. Certainly, Costner and his co-writer Jon Baird allow the script to operate in grey areas, away from the black-and-white heroes and villains that used to characterise westerns in Hollywood’s Golden Age. Whether it will be enough for some people, in terms of how the indigenous characters are treated, remains to be seen.

With Costner alluding to westerns from John Ford and even Star Wars scribe Lawrence Kasdan, who directed him in Silverado, the film has a traditional feel, as if it was forged in the blacksmith of Old Hollywood. The gunslinging in Chapter 1 is restrained, but every bullet counts. When Hayes shoots one rival down, Costner takes time to let the camera linger on his reflection, seen in a water trough. It’s a rare moment of beauty in a film that has its eye on the harsh and rough-hewn nature of frontier living.