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Kevin Costner’s ego and the strange road to Horizon

Horizon is a baffling, incoherent mess. Kevin Costner making it was probably inevitable.

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What is clear is the sense of gravitas, of a man with a strong mission carrying it out at long last. Costner’s ego fills every frame; we can sense from the outset how desperately he wants this film sequence to restore to him the industry’s Wolves-era respect for his artistry and talent as a director. As it stands, however, there’s too much that’s baffling and unchecked about this project to make that likely.

If, however, Costner means what he says about making a film for “the people,” he might have better luck. Currently, despite its muddled, messy state, the audience score for Horizon on Rotten Tomatoes currently hovers around 70 percent.

Will it be enough to make up for Costner mortgaging his beachfront Santa Barbara mansion in order to create the ultimate American cinema?

Probably not, but it wouldn’t be an American dream if it weren’t giant, over the top, and fueled less by reason than by sentiment. All in all, that’s the essence of Costner himself — and why Horizon might surprise us in the end.

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