The actors fit their roles exceptionally well, but Zwick rarely allows them the kinds of crucial, intimate moments that establish how the characters feel about each other.
The real star, however, is John Toll's Oscar-winning cinematography, which is equally at home with the stunning beauty of the mountainous terrain and the killing fields of war-torn France.
There's a vast psychodrama being played out on the Ludlow ranch, battles between generations, philosophies, races and sexes. And the landscapes, photographed by John Toll, majestically backdrop all the personal and cultural furies.
It either sweeps you up in its rapturous emotional wake or -- and it's a big or -- you just sit there and snicker. I found myself alternately doing both, though fortunately more of the former than the latter.
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
April 02, 2014
While the production is attractive in a calendar-photo sort of way, there's not a speck of genuine feeling in its glossy images.
