An American epic that is being harshly panned in critical reviews

“Horizon: An American Epic”

Kevin Costner’s new Western epic may have received a 10-minute standing ovation at Cannes, but as soon as critics returned from the festival screenings to their hotel rooms, they were posting reviews about the film. Horizon: An American Epic — Chapter 1 Which was much less enthusiastic.

Horizon It is the first film in writer-director-star Costner’s massive four-picture gamble that famously used one of his homes to help finance (he spent $38 million out of his own pocket on the film, which had a $90 million budget). Chapter 1 It is three hours long and focuses largely on setting the stage, introducing a sprawling cast of characters, with the promise of more dramatic events to come in the remaining films.

There haven’t been a large number of reviews of the post-Civil War Western tale yet, but some of the early criticism is quite harsh. The most common complaint is that the film feels less like cinema than three consecutive episodes of a new television series, and a somewhat mixed one at that, as the film jumps between four central stories. Some even compare him to Francis Ford Coppola Major citiesanother directorial passion project decades in the making that garnered critical acclaim at the festival.

Here are some highlights from the early review:

— Hollywood Reporter He called it “a clumsy effort… It plays like a limited series fixed up as a movie, but feels more like a rushed rough cut than a ready-made release for any format.” This first part of a quartet of films is filled with non-essential scenes and characters that lead nowhere, and takes far too long to tie up messy plot threads… Any of these plot threads would take an hour of compelling television but they don’t add up to much in this quilt. Oddly stitched, rarely making room for anyone’s experiences to resonate… Costner in a form-fitting role whose presence would be reassuring. He was never a broad actor, but he was always engaging — even when he arrived late, as he does here, and remained on the sombre side.

— Vanity gallery He called it “more like.” Water world from dancing with the wolves. A mixture of hackneyed plots presented in dull colors (and lackluster performances), Horizon May compete Major cities As the biggest American bootleg at Cannes this year… maybe everything [the storylines] It will converge convincingly, even poignantly, in the second act, but there’s little reason to believe. This first foray sets a schedule that seems beyond saving by the end. at least Horizon It accomplishes an astonishing feat: it makes one wonder whether perhaps we are taking it too hard mailman“.

— IndieWire He called it “the most boring cinematic vanity project of the century” and wrote: “Horizon It was beautifully shot with a capital H by J. Michael Muro with the aspect ratio and camera placement of a high-budget TV series. Which, coupled with the film’s clumsy expository structure, leads you to believe that Costner may have been trying to one-up Taylor Sheridan. Taylor Sheridanthe Yellowstone The showrunner is rumored to have drama as the show is supposedly ready to return without Costner. Costner’s arrogant effort at crafting a faithful Western in which he spent a lot of his own money is commendable mainly because of what he puts on the line here. but Horizon He even makes another $100 million project at Cannes – Francis Ford Coppola Major cities In comparison, it appears to be the work of unrestrained genius.

Watchman: “After three exhausting hours, Kevin Costner, the handsome but strangely listless neo-western actor, doesn’t accomplish much in the way of satisfying storytelling. Admittedly, this is supposed to be just the first part of a multi-part saga in which Costner is director and co-writer. And a star, but somehow it doesn’t establish anything interesting with its many unresolved stories, and doesn’t leave us hanging on anything else.

— Screenready Said the film “moves between fascination and frustration”… “Beautifully shot, with deft control of period detail and an all-star cast, Costner’s Civil War epic offers an old-fashioned celebration of the pioneer spirit — and a host of compelling storylines. Which was not He has enough time to interact with it before the movie continues… Audiences who want to see an old-fashioned Utah bareback epic probably won’t be disappointed, although they will certainly skew towards an older demographic… but even audiences who might have enjoyed a ballet Costner’s pensive, leaden Montana Open field (2003) Risk aversion HorizonThe events of the film revolve suddenly between its different stories.

— diverse “It sounds like the seed for a miniseries,” he wrote. Much of what happens is fragile and not very robust; The film never builds impact, and rarely seems to be aiming in a clear direction. Costner, as an actor, doesn’t appear until an hour in, and when he does, playing more of a gruff horse dealer than a mere horse dealer, one senses the grounding the film lacks. What you realize, after a while, is that Horizon is not just a TV series produced with expensive production values. It’s the Prove For a TV series…the real problem is the script (by Costner and John Baird), which has no form. She doesn’t weave these stories together; She stacks them next to each other like a series of caboose.

— RogerEbert.com He gave it two stars out of five: “While the first film is possible Horizon The series does well to set up future pictures, continuing the momentum Costner had gained before his departure YellowstoneThis single film is a chore to sit through. It rarely gives viewers what they want: seeing Costner in the open range. It gives us few memorable characters outside of Costner: I can’t remember the name of a single character without looking at my notes. It feels like a huge mistake to rely on potential future films to get the whole concept across. Horizon It keeps too many of the best parts out of reach.

However, there are some positive reviews as well, such as…

Telegraph He called it “grandpa cinema” (in a good way): “Part of the fun Horizon Is this the grand, majestic sweep of the thing – with mountains, mesas and mesas like these, who needs CG? But its texture lives on in small, expressive details: we often get to know the characters by their working methods, whether honest manual labor or otherwise. Perhaps its full greatness will not appear until after the completion of these tales in the second part. But there’s enough greatness here to keep it going.

Horizon It also stars Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abby Lee, Michael Rooker, Houston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shaw, Ella Hunt and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Chapter 1 It will be released in theaters on June 28, followed by a second season two months later. Costner is currently filming the third picture.