Hatfields & McCoys (2012)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Despite a few flaws, The History Channel's telling of the infamous Hatfield and McCoy feud makes for some terrific entertainment and features a cast making a major comeback in their careers. The leaders of the families, Anse Hatfield (Kevin Costner) and Randall McCoy (Bill Paxton), go through more than a decade of each one having family members killed and as time drags on the states of Kentucky and West Virginia get pulled into it.
HATFIELDS & MCCOYS runs just under five hours and I decided to watch the film in its entirety instead of breaking it down into its three parts. I must say that even though I went through the entire thing in one sitting that it never felt long and in fact it actually went by fairly quickly. I will admit that there are many flaws in the picture but for the most part you really can't be disappointed in the end result. I'll start off talking about the flaws and it's funny that in the five-hour running time the most boring aspects for me were the first ten or fifteen minutes when we're seeing the two families during the Civil War era. These early scenes really didn't seem to be overly needed but I understand why they were included. It's when the actual feud starts over a stolen pig that things really started to take off and they never slowed down. Another flaw was the music score, which was quite annoying at times and especially during the moments where a song was played. I'm going to guess that the director wanted to add some sort of emotion but the song doesn't do this.
With that said, the film is such an epic that you can't help but be impressed with it. Yes, I'm sure certain facts were changed for entertainment and I'm sure there were countless stories that aren't told about the feud but I think they did a very good job at getting as much in as they could. The most impressive thing is the fact that the story never gets boring or drawn out, which is saying quite a bit considering the running time. I thought the way the story was told was very good and they're able to draw you into the excitement of the battle but also make you keep asking yourself how many people have to die before one side calls an end to it. The film contains quite a bit of violence and I enjoyed and respected the fact that the film doesn't shy away from the fact that not only were men killed but so were women, children and even a mentally challenged boy.
The greatest thing about the movie is that we get some terrific actors given some of the best material in many years and all of them do a masterful job. It starts with Costner who delivers the type of performance that made him one of the biggest stars in his time. He does a terrific job with the part and manages to show just about every side of this character that you could expect. His character goes through quite a bit and Costner nails every emotion along the way. Paxton is also terrific in his part and I think it's fair to say that his character goes through even more damage and the way the actor starts to question everything around him was very strong and touching. Tom Berenger is wonderful as Jim Vance and we get an exceptionally strong Powers Boothe playing Judge Hatfield. Other excellent performances come from Jena Malone, Andrew Howard, Lindsay Pulsipher, Sarah Parish and Matt Barr.
HATFIELDS & MCCOYS does justice to the infamy of the two families and I really don't think you could have hoped for much more.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Despite a few flaws, The History Channel's telling of the infamous Hatfield and McCoy feud makes for some terrific entertainment and features a cast making a major comeback in their careers. The leaders of the families, Anse Hatfield (Kevin Costner) and Randall McCoy (Bill Paxton), go through more than a decade of each one having family members killed and as time drags on the states of Kentucky and West Virginia get pulled into it.
HATFIELDS & MCCOYS runs just under five hours and I decided to watch the film in its entirety instead of breaking it down into its three parts. I must say that even though I went through the entire thing in one sitting that it never felt long and in fact it actually went by fairly quickly. I will admit that there are many flaws in the picture but for the most part you really can't be disappointed in the end result. I'll start off talking about the flaws and it's funny that in the five-hour running time the most boring aspects for me were the first ten or fifteen minutes when we're seeing the two families during the Civil War era. These early scenes really didn't seem to be overly needed but I understand why they were included. It's when the actual feud starts over a stolen pig that things really started to take off and they never slowed down. Another flaw was the music score, which was quite annoying at times and especially during the moments where a song was played. I'm going to guess that the director wanted to add some sort of emotion but the song doesn't do this.
With that said, the film is such an epic that you can't help but be impressed with it. Yes, I'm sure certain facts were changed for entertainment and I'm sure there were countless stories that aren't told about the feud but I think they did a very good job at getting as much in as they could. The most impressive thing is the fact that the story never gets boring or drawn out, which is saying quite a bit considering the running time. I thought the way the story was told was very good and they're able to draw you into the excitement of the battle but also make you keep asking yourself how many people have to die before one side calls an end to it. The film contains quite a bit of violence and I enjoyed and respected the fact that the film doesn't shy away from the fact that not only were men killed but so were women, children and even a mentally challenged boy.
The greatest thing about the movie is that we get some terrific actors given some of the best material in many years and all of them do a masterful job. It starts with Costner who delivers the type of performance that made him one of the biggest stars in his time. He does a terrific job with the part and manages to show just about every side of this character that you could expect. His character goes through quite a bit and Costner nails every emotion along the way. Paxton is also terrific in his part and I think it's fair to say that his character goes through even more damage and the way the actor starts to question everything around him was very strong and touching. Tom Berenger is wonderful as Jim Vance and we get an exceptionally strong Powers Boothe playing Judge Hatfield. Other excellent performances come from Jena Malone, Andrew Howard, Lindsay Pulsipher, Sarah Parish and Matt Barr.
HATFIELDS & MCCOYS does justice to the infamy of the two families and I really don't think you could have hoped for much more.