(Reviewed at Loews 42nd Street E-Walk)

Costner plays Charley Waite and Robert Duvall is Boss Spearman. They've been riding together for years as cattlemen taking advantage of free-grazing rights, but Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon) will murder those herding cattle to free-graze in the vicinity of his domain. The screenplay, instead of adhering economically to its ritualistic western plot, is filled with pompous dialogue between Boss and Charley.

Worse, a love interest is introduced between Charley and Sue Barlow, the sister of the doctor who treats Spearman's assaulted hired hands Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and Button (Diego Luna). Annette Bening, intelligent and charismatic actress that she is, manages to endow Sue with a level of reality, but the script undoes all that with its cornball unfurling of the understated romance. Sue is hungry for a mate in the lonely town on the prairie, and Charlie is a rovin' man who underneath has a hankerin' to settle down. How this is all worked out after the killing spree can induce laughter instead of emotion.

The overall result is a pity, as the film, with James Muro as director of photography, contains some beautiful scenery expressing the intended 1880s locale, which might have been Montana. In reality the filmmakers used an Alberta area of Canada for shooting.

The basic plot adheres to the tried and true idea of lone heroes setting an example for others as they take on the bad guys people fear to challenge. But the need to tighten the story and ease up on the pretension is something that eludes Costner, although his acting is sufficiently serviceable. The acting by the other leading cast members is also credible. For example, the late Michael Jeter left us with a good performance in a colorful character part as Percy, a stable owner lending a hand to the heroes.