Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Kirpianuscus I do not know if it could be considered a good film. maybe, a correct one. because it has many virtues who define a beautiful storytelling, smart trip across delicate themes, the meet with real admirable actors - Miriam Colon is an example, the great performance of Lucas Black. a western who preserves a special air. not always credible, not always coherent, but giving that beauty who determine you see it again. for a specific scene, for a specific actress/actor or , maybe, for the flavor of a state of soul. so, a film full with virtues. this is all !

Robert J. Maxwell It's post-war Texas. Matt Damon and his buddy team up and ride across the Rio Grande to seek their fortunes. They meet, and lose, a sixteen-year-old companion along the way. They find a job at a Mexican horse ranch. The owner takes a shine to Damon, a buckaroo who knows his quarter horses.Then, alas, buscar a la mujer. The owner's daughter, the delicious Penelope Cruz, shows up. She and Damon throw a few winks at one another and the next thing you know they're rolling around in the sack like two coyotes in heat. It's a fast, unexplored, and improbable romance. And, mind you, she is the owner's daughter and not meant for the likes of a handsome young Yanqui who owns nothing but his horse and saddle. Cruz's father and aunt get wind of this. Damon is warned but he cares not.Pow -- Damon and his buddy are in a Mexican prison, charged with something or other. The sixteen-year-old wastrel they met on their way through the majestic mountains is also incarcerated, charged with the murder of two or three people, one of them a police officer. There is no capital punishment in Mexico, so after the corrections officers break the kids ankles they take him out in the desert and shoot him, while Damon and buddy watch helplessly.The two Americans are bailed out by the wise and honorable and candid aunt of Penelope Cruz. Damon, alone, decides to return to the rancho and get it on again with Cruz. But he's brought before the stern aunt who tells him candidly that it's impossible. She gives him money and a horse and tells him to leave. Damon protests that he loves Cruz. "We all are cured of our sentiments," she tells him. "If life doesn't cure us, death will." It's a pretty good exchange. I assume it was lifted intact from McCarthy's novel.The performances are pretty good too. Both Damon and his amigo, Henry Thomas, are convincing as polite but determined Texas youngsters, the kind who "won't change my mind because it's made up, and I'm not the kind of guy who changes his mind once it's made up" -- to quote another Texas youngster who became president. They're well brought up. "Yes, sir." "No, sir." I don't know how Cormac McCarthy, born in Rhode Island and raised in Appalachia, could have pinned down Southwestern character so well.Billy Bob Thornton's direction has it finer touches. He doesn't spell out the obvious for us. When the miscreant kid is taken out to be shot, the execution takes place off screen and we hear only two separate gunshots and we see only the expressions on the faces of Damon and Thomas.At the same time I wish Thornton had been able to avoid three common clichés, despite their pedigrees: choker close ups (Sergio Leone), slow motion (Pekinpah), and freeze frames (Truffaut).It's a long and languid tale of an adventurer barking his shins against reality. It starts slowly but it picks up momentum as it moves along. And each time we think we've reached a climax, there's another one around the corner. The final one is a conversation between a remorseful Damon and a gentle judge, Bruce Dern, and it seems anti-climactic because heretofore Damon hasn't shown the slightest regret at the mayhem he now confesses to and appears to regret.

Dennis Potter The book is great and Billy Bob was a good fit for it, but producer Harvey Weinstein screwed it all up. He wanted a two hour cut, even though from the offset it was clear the story needed a three hour epic sweep.So you really shouldn't watch this obviously truncated version (35% was cut). Scenes are rushed and a film that was supposed to capture the feel and romance of the landscape falls flat. Apparently Billy Bob has the correct edit on VHS in his home. Matt Damon says this cut is the best film he's ever been involved in. Eventually this film will be released, so you all should just wait for it. Billy Bob talks humorously about all this on cinemablend.The Weinsteins of this world are by no means villains, it takes a lot of hard work and guts to get where they have. But the same brute force that makes them successful can prove fatal where artistry is involved. Producers can be right - sometimes directors do need reigning in. Just not in this case. Harvey wasn't dealing with a wayward, self-indulgent director, and the story really did demand more time in its telling.

J B All the Pretty Horses had its entertaining moments with believable characters, but it failed to capture the book's nostalgic luster. For the most part, All the Pretty Horses followed the generally accepted rule that books are usually better than the movies that are made after them. While it at least followed the same general plot of the book, it also shortened nearly every major episode, which down played the depth and general tone of nearly every scene. Pivotal moments were built up to a crescendo in the book, whereas the movie tried to speed through John Grady's story in an limited amount of time. Sitting at just about 2 hours long, the movie could have(and should have) been made longer to give each epic moment some gravity. In my opinion Billy Bob Thorton may have gotten a better response if he had not punctuated the most dramatic, raw, and realistic moments that the story had to offer in order to keep the movie at a popular time length. However, it had a good western feel in relation to the scenery and landscape. The acting is good enough and does a decent job at character development. To someone who enjoys this genre and has not read the book, there is a good chance it will be enjoyed. This movie may not be entertaining to those who expect a realistic and rugged style of a western, such as McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. For others, the natural beauty and John Grady's character development makes All the Pretty Horses a memorable watch. Reading the book could make all the difference.I have enjoyed a lot more westerns than this one, a lot more, but I would also probably keep watching it if I came across it on T.V. Go ahead and give it a watch. 5.75/10