Deborah Ross

Cowboys and clichés: Horizon – An American Saga reviewed

The three-hour film – Kevin Costner's first chapter of four – feels retrograde rather than a revitalisation of the Western genre

It has the cinematography you’d expect of a Western – and many of the tropes and characters are familiar 
issue 29 June 2024

Horizon: An American Saga is a Western directed by Kevin Costner. It also stars Kevin Costner and is co-written by Kevin Costner and has been bankrolled by Kevin Costner – so if it’s Kevin Costner you’re after, happy days. This is Chapter One, and there are three more chapters to come, so even though it’s a whopping three hours long it’s only a quarter of a film.

Sienna Miller doesn’t get to do much except look golden. She deserves better, I think

Now I have to say something positive about it because, you know, Costner re-mortgaged his house to fund it and everything. Sienna Miller is a positive. I liked the way that, even when her character was under extreme duress (in 1856), she still looked like she’d just come from an appointment at Toni & Guy. I hope I have now done my bit in keeping Mr Costner afloat.

This is a vanity project – or a passion project, depending on your view of it – and it certainly takes itself very seriously.

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