Leann Serbousek

Where to start with this.. Over 3 hours of wasted time....an excessive character development that doesn't really develop emotional ties to ANY of the characters. The opening scene has a man and his son plotting land, but then are found dead.... but wait. There is a third body to be buried.. Really. Who is the third body?? Then we flash to Montana and a woman shoots a man. Why? Even at the end of 3 hours, we're really not sure why (other than she had an affair with the man, and the wife wants the illegitimate child back?) Ok.. so back at Horizon, the new village is pillaged and the heroine and her daughter are rescued. But hair and makeup are intact after being underground for who knows how long. But this tough woman and her daughter later nearly dissolve into hysterics after finding two scorpions? Pioneer women in that time would have squashed that and gone on about their day. Then Marigold the tramp appears. She is living with the woman who shot the man in Montana. Enter Hays (Costner), and the attraction between the two of them is.... a dud! Well, there are some cute and funny parts here, but not enough to save anything with the script/movie. Then the sons of the Montana guy who was shot hunt the woman who shot their dad.. They find her (via a really stupid ruse about purchasing gold enriched land). One of the sons (Caleb) is sent to find the child. So Hays (Costner) is heading up to see the tramp (Marigold).... and Caleb just magically appears and knows that Hays is going to where this child is living? It's all really awkward throughout this segment, but Hays kills Calb and flees with Marigold. So then there are some scenes with the wagon trains coming across Kansas to develop even MORE characters.... these are mostly really boring, but contain glimpses of actors that I'm sure where meant to boost the ratings. In between all of this, the movie portrays and tries to weave in the angst between the white eyes with the Indian culture... in a very clumsy way. History is brutal (on both sides). Enough said. Somewhere in between all this, are several scenes at the military fort of "gardening ". Good grief... I grew up in the Midwest, and corn would NEVER have grown in that soil nor in the location portrayed. Oh, and then Hays and Marigold find their way to the railroad building camp. The Montana Boys are after them, but they hang out above the camp to be safe. AND, the next thing you know....Marigold is in a tent bedding some man who we don't know (but he knows Hays), and then he hits her.. And then shortly after is the MOST awkward love scene with Hays (he is literally falling sleep while she straddles him).... If I had gone to this movie in the evening, I would still be fast asleep. Instead, I went in the afternoon. Sigh.