Trailer
Plot summary
Montana, 1882. Boss Spearman runs cattle on the open range with his hired hands Charley Waite, Mose and Button. Mose rides into Harmonville for supplies and is beaten by men belonging to Denton Baxter, the rancher who controls the town, then jailed by Marshal Poole. Boss and Charley go looking for him, free him from the jail, and hear Baxter's warning to clear out of the territory before nightfall. Mose is hurt badly enough that they take him to Doc Barlow, whose assistant, Sue, Charley takes for the doctor's wife. They turn down her offer of a room for the night. Charley, a former Union soldier, is drawn to her.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Open Range (2003)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Because Costner did not like any of the existing towns, the production spent over $1 million building one from scratch, designed by production designer Gae S. Buckley and built in seven weeks; the site was so remote that $40,000 went on a road to reach it before construction could start.
- Kevin Costner said Robert Duvall was the only actor he considered for the role of Boss Spearman and that he might not have made the movie at all if Duvall had turned it down.
- Duvall accepted the role immediately and Costner gave him top billing; while practicing his riding for the part, Duvall was bucked off a horse and broke six ribs.
- Costner cast actor Abraham Benrubi in the film partly as an apology for cutting him from his earlier movie The Postman.
- The gunfights were intentionally filmed in giant, wide shots and were praised by a number of critics for their intense realism, which was also the reason the film earned an R rating.
- The film was the final on-screen appearance of Jeter, who died before it was released; it was dedicated to his memory as well as to Costner's parents.
