Wyatt Earp

Until it gets to the overly drawn-out last half-hour, Wyatt Earp is a very decent western with everything the genre should have. Kevin Costner is a good fit for the role of Earp, and the melodramatic level of Earp’s emotional life is subtly balanced with the dramatic stories of his career as a sheriff. So, why was this film a commercial failure? Because it’s not a popcorn movie like Tombstone? (12.04.2002)

An epic western that doesn't lack any of the attributes needed for this genre, but is very tedious in places. The big surprise for me is the infirm and emaciated gunslinger in a riveting performance by Denis Quaid. Costner with a wig as a young man looks a bit out of place, but otherwise he's pretty OK. It wasn’t a second Dances with Wolves, Wyatt Erp was a commercial flop, but I think it's undeserved. (08.05.2003)

Wyatt Earp reminded me of one of the stories by my favorite Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock - "The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones". Poor Melpomenus was a well-mannered and likable young man who had the flaw of being influenced by his surroundings and being too truthful. He couldn't explain to his hosts that he had to leave, and unfortunately, he took their hypocritical pleas for him to stay too seriously, until he eventually collapsed and died during his endless stay with acquaintances. Lawrence Kasdan may have also been too influenced by his surroundings, and whenever he started thinking about ending the film, the actors and the entire crew persuaded him not to cut off the promising project when everyone was getting paid and having a good time. Unfortunately, the one who is not having a good time is the viewer who has to consume over 3 hours of runtime. The film's storytelling is lacking and, despite my best efforts, I can't find a reason why the film shouldn't be significantly shorter. Even worse, when I imagine the film having a reasonable runtime of 90-100 minutes, I still wouldn't feel the need to give it more than 3 stars, even though it would be a very solid 3 stars. In its current form, however, I have to rate it even lower. Most of all, the film can be described as tedious. Wyatt Earp is neither a classic adventure film full of predictable genre clichés nor a serious biopic. It is something in between and, honestly, in my opinion, it doesn't satisfy any part of the audience. The relatively solid rating it has is more due to the fact that Kasdan, no matter how we view his megalomania, maintained a solid level of craftsmanship - the film is simply not bad and tempts reviewers to overrate in that they don't want to bring it down. The mixed reviews of the film marked the beginning of the end of Kevin Costner's star period, which was propelled upwards primarily by the phenomenal success of Dances with Wolves. Overall impression: 45%. (07.04.2016)

Too simple of a film considering its runnng time, focusing too much on the main character at the expense of everything and everyone else. The story revolves around him, with the other characters just floating about and occasionally adding something. The action is fairly decent, but there's not enough of it, and it sometimes felt like it was forcefully inserted just to wake up the audience, who most likely can't help but doze off. Interesting cast, a well-developed main character (emotions, losses, successes), and solid atmospheric music. There really isn't much else to it. (01.07.2008)