The adventures that befall Cole and hs best buddy Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas) as they head out to the new frontier in 1949 are the stuff of this film helmed by Billy Bob Thornton, whose aim seems to be to capture the precious dialogue in the McCarthy novel while showing his audience a picture of post-World War II frontier life uncluttered by the high melodrama of 1950's American Westerns. No general stores with barrels of food along the main street, no bars with assertive women named Kitty, no duels at high noon here. Unfortunately, however, what is intended to be art is just another horse opera made in an understated and underproduced manner to give the viewer the impression that he is looking at virtuosity. Since the Romeo-and-Juliet romantic interest that develops midway through the story between Cole and the rich and forbidden Alejandra (Penelope Cruz) is only about as fiery as the first sparks set off by Chuck "Flintstone" Noland while rubbing sticks together on his South Pacific island, and since the drama comes to cinematic life only twice when an unfortunate fellow is dragged away for execution and Cole must defend himself in a prison fight, "All the Pretty Horses" gives us ample time to concentrate on the title characters of the movie and put the laconic human beings out of our thoughts.

The journey of self-discovery on foreign land finds Cole and Rawlins meeting up with the sixteen-year-old Jimmy Blevins (Lucas Black), who is riding what they suspect is a stolen animal. Horsing around with him, they agree to let him join the trek only to find that he becomes the source of much of their troubles. Cole and Rawlins are hired as help on a prosperous ranch owned by the English-speaking Rocha (Ruben Blades), giving Rocha's daughter the opportunity to cast her come-hither eyes on the handsome young gringo, Cole. Engaging in forbidden love, Cole winds up in jail together with Rawlins, where the former must prove his manhood in the obligatory fight, which is well staged involving a choreographed exit from the dining tables by all prisoners save Cole and the man who is expected to kill him.

Filmed by Barry Markowitz in a surprisingly conventional manner with obligatory filtered National Geographic-style shots on the rugged, uninviting landscape, "All the Pretty Horses" fails to capture the nuances of the McCarthy novel, particularly the humorous moments. Despite that, the film is overly talky, the adventurers expressing their sophomoric dreams for the lives the want to lead. A negative product placement for the Mexican Tourist Board, "All the Pretty Horses" is pretty much a neigh.