Big Boy Matson and Pete Calder are friends who go off to fight in WW2. On their return they continue to farm in their old ways, however this way is challenged by Jim Ed Love, who has a huge ranch and employs many of the old land owners. To complicate this Big Boy is having an affair with Mona, the wife of Love's foreman, Les Birk. However Mona not only threatens to inflame the dangerous relationship between Big Boy and Birk but also between Pete (who loves Mona despite the attentions of Josepha O'Neil) and Big Boy.
Despite the poor box office that comes with a modern western (generally) I had heard reasonable reviews and wanted to give it a look. To call this sprawling is a bit of an understatement, it covers many themes and interrelating stories. The plots all spin around Big Boy and Pete and they hold together quite well on the whole. Only Pete's relationship with Josepha didn't get expanded as well as I'd have liked but the sweeping coverage of the main themes just about worked. Aside from the fact that it might have been very slow, the film could have used another 30 minutes to open itself out a bit more into the side plots. It is not as slow as it sounds but it does require a bit of patience and grace, so I suspect many will get bored.
Harrelson is really good in this. Some films he seems to work and others he doesn't. Here his cocky act fits the character real well. Crudup is more understated as Pete but is good in a different way. He provides more mystery that kept me interested. Elliot and Diehl are both strong characters. Cruz is pretty and interesting but criminally not used as well as I'd like simply because the film turns to focus on Mona. This is a shame because Arquette is bland and poor throughout the film. At one point she is talking about the blinking neon lights and says `I hate things that go on and on without changing', Yes! I screamed at my TV - like your tone of voice and your dull, droning performances! I hate to be cruel but since the film was focused around Mona as opposed to the other strands, Mona needed to be a strong performance and Arquette just can't cut it. Her weakness is the weakness of the film she is the reason that the film doesn't work at times.
Aside from this I did enjoy the film. It was involving and thoughtful without being too slow. The performances of the majority of the cast really help the film but Arquette is simply not able to deliver in the pivotal role of Mona and the film suffers as a result.
