A movie that leaves you feeling completely sad, unsatisfied, and disturbed.
The storyline is disconnected from the start and never recovers. None of the actors were explored with much depth.
The story could have been told as well, or even better, without the rush to include too many characters ( ie: a violent family.) Kevin Costner is an excellent cinematographer. However, even more confusion was introduced with too many gorgeous shots of scenery, horses, cars. And then there were the excessive creative shots, mixed in with random characters who began strong and yet faltered.
If my description reads distracting, that’s on purpose. It’s just like the underlying feel of the movie.
Which character should you relate to: the unexplored marriage; the abused daughter-in-law; the traumatized Native American; the insane matriarch; the culture of the crazed family; the abused grandson; the abused/abusive step father... And which storyline?
Too much distraction and not enough story line - whipped up by an excessive use of trauma.
Even though I really like a lot of the actors, they were not well explored. Their extremes made little sense. Their behaviors; personalities; characters - presented like we already knew them and were just being reminded...lots of necessary guessing to stay on board.
The topic is so important: grandparents and their value and steadfast love. However, the movie lost its way.