When this film was first advertised, I could not wait to find it. It was directed by Ron Howard, one of my favorite directors, so I didn’t think it could go wrong. It could. This film was nothing more than an overacted horror western that dragged on and on and on.
I couldn’t be more disappointed. The story was so intriguing and was destined to be great, but somehow it was shuffled to the back of the line. The acting was wonderful in some parts, but awful in most. Cate Blanchett, who is an excellent actress, played the mother whose daughter is kidnapped. She had the potential to be great in this, but over shot. As did Tommy Lee Jones. Jones is no character actor, meaning he is only good in roles that are perfect for him. His character in this film was a white man who abandoned his family to join the Apache Indians. Yet, he seems to know every language known to man.
Overall, the story was not interpreted well, the acting was not good, and every time you thought something ‘cool’ was going to happen...it didn’t. I was extremely disappointed with this picture, and all I can do is hope that Ron Howard’s next film is much better than this. **.